The investment creates a manufacturing system capable of producing internal combustion engine, hybrid and battery-electric vehicles on the same production line.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — 10TV got a first look at Honda’s new strategy at its EV Hub in Ohio, set to begin in late 2025.
The company is investing more than $1 billion to retool its Marysville Auto Plant (MAP), East Liberty Auto Plant (ELP) and Anna Engine Plant (AEP), creating a flexible manufacturing system capable of producing internal combustion engine (ICE), hybrid-electric and battery electric vehicles on the same production line. In 2022, Honda said the original investment was around $700 million.
“We took a look at how we could get to that end goal of recreating that ideal line and being able to bring new technologies and new EV products into our customers’ hands without impacting our production,” said Tim Leopold, associate chief engineer at the Marysville Auto Plant. “We had to take a look at how we could connect the dots without disrupting our operations, to maintain that daily production value and those high safety and quality standards.”
The retooling process has been complex, with construction and new line integration at the same time with ongoing vehicle production.
“We were able to actually take parts of our facility and repurpose them instead of building new,” said Leopold. “That helped not only in the lead time to be able to bring products like this to the market faster but also helped in our ability to pivot into that new environment for both ICE, hybrid, and EV production on a common line.”
The 3-in-1 line provides flexibility based on consumer patterns and external market pressures.
“I think for us that flexibility is just paramount, and I think we made a crazy good decision three years ago to create this,” said Mike Fischer, executive chief engineer at Honda Development and Manufacturing of America. “It was for that very purpose that there are so many things outside our circle of influence that have potential for us to drift from that.”
Fischer told Consumer 10’s Clay Gordon that even when faced with EV tax credit cuts and potential tariffs, this new line will help insolate Honda from manufacturing disruptions.
“If you think about that flexibility in many of the other OEMs they’re setting up exclusive EV facilities that based on that exclusive product demand, depending on what the customers are, it could idle a facility, put it at 50% and in our case, basically we’re creating our manufacturing business model based on what the customer’s requirements are,” said Fischer. “Internal combustion, EV, or hybrid, we’re keeping our facilities running full, [which] equals stability for our associates, equals stability for the company, equals good cost positioning overall that we can pass on to customers.”
The all-new Acura RSX will be the first produced at the Ohio EV Hub, expected to roll off the line in late 2025. The Honda 0 SUV and Honda 0 Saloon prototypes will follow.
There are four Honda plants in Ohio.
Marysville Auto Plant employs approximately 4,200 workers, East Liberty Auto Plant has 2,700 employees and the Anna Engine Plant has 3,000. A spokesperson at Honda says this investment in energy efficiency and automation will keep employment “stable,” and is expected to add 300 new jobs.
Honda’s investment in Ohio is not just in vehicle production. The company has partnered with LG Energy Solution to invest $3.5 billion in a new joint venture battery facility, in Jeffersonville.
The project is still under construction with production scheduled to start in late 2025. The Jeffersonville battery facility is expected to hire 2,200 workers.
Also launched is Honda’s “Triple Action to Zero” approach, aiming for zero environmental impact in the next 25 years. This strategy focuses on carbon neutrality, clean energy, and resource circulation.
“This is an incredibly challenging initiative for us, but ultimately this is about introducing zero virgin materials into our vehicles by 2050,” said Fischer. “It talks about from an environmental footprint and impact for us that we’re reclaiming aluminum, sheet metal, tires and all of that and reintroducing that into our environmental waste stream and back into recycling to be able to create new vehicles with old products.”
Coming up on Monday, Clay will dive deeper into what this means for jobs and investments in Ohio and show a tour of the facility.
