As part of its transition to producing electric vehicles (EVs), Honda Motor Co.’s U.S. division said on Tuesday that it will transfer manufacturing of its Accord sedan to Indiana in 2025 after assembling the model in Marysville, Ohio, for more than 40 years. The first Honda car factory in the United States to convert to EV production is in Marysville.
The action was taken after Honda and LG Energy Solution Ltd. of South Korea announced in October that they will construct a projected $4.4 billion joint-venture battery facility at a location close to Jeffersonville, Ohio, and that construction would begin this month.
The battery factory, which is expected to be finished by the end of 2024, will have a floor area of more than 2 million square feet (185,806 square meters) and a production capacity of roughly 40 Gigawatt hours (GWh) per year.
Honda said last year that it will spend $700 million in three Ohio factories, including Marysville, to retool them for the manufacturing of electric vehicles by 2026.
According to the corporation, Marysville will merge its two manufacturing lines into one in order to start developing the EV infrastructure as early as January.
Honda started building the Accord at its Marysville in November 1982, making it the first Japanese manufacturer to construct vehicles in the United States. Since then, the Ohio facility has manufactured more than 12.5 million Accords.
In 1989, the Accord was the first Japanese model to hold the distinction of best-selling U.S. automobile, with 362,700 units sold.
Americans have been switching from sedans to sport utility and crossover cars in recent years. In the United States, Honda sold 154,600 Accords in 2018, a 24% decrease from 2021.
Honda said that Accord manufacturing would be moved to its Indiana car facility, which also produces the CR-V and Civic Hatchback.
Honda’s Anna, Ohio engine plant will shift production of some engine components to a Honda engine plant in Alabama to prepare for production of battery cases for EV models, the company said. Honda’s transmission plant in Georgia will dedicate one production line to e-axle production, a key EV component.