Honda has celebrated the manufacture of its seven-millionth vehicle in Canada since the Japanese automaker first started making cars in the country in 1986.
Honda opened it Canadian plant in Alliston, Ontario and has manufactured models including the Honda Accord, Odyssey, Pilot and Ridgeline, as well as Acura EL, CSX and ZDX vehicles. The plant currently builds Honda CR-Vs and Civics, Canada’s best-selling passenger car for 17 consecutive years.
The company plans to donate its seven-millionth Canadian-built car, a grey 2015 Honda Civic EX sedan, to a registered non-profit charity in the coming months through the Honda Canada Foundation.
“More than 1.8 million Honda Civics have been proudly parked in driveways all over this country,” said Dave Gardner, senior vice president of operations, Honda Canada Inc.
“Our plant capacity was 50,000 vehicles when we started and we’re now building in excess of 390,000 vehicles per year. This growth is attributed to the superior craftsmanship of the highly skilled Associates who have worked with us over the years to produce the quality and reliability that Honda customers truly value.”
Honda of Canada began production at a second manufacturing facility in Alliston, Ontario in 1998, producing the Odyssey, Honda’s first full-size mini-van. A third manufacturing facility in Alliston, Ontario began producing four-cylinder engines in 2008.
HCM’s Plant 1 produces 820 vehicles per day and Plant 2 produces 800 vehicles per day, for a total output of 1620 vehicles per day, meaning a new car is driven off the production line at both Plant 1 and Plant 2 almost every minute of the working day.
