and....
If parts are sourced in the USA, you won't have to wait for them to arrive from Japan.
If parts are sourced in the USA, you won't have to wait for them to arrive from Japan.
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I wonder if they will bring the Factory Refurb Program for first generation NSX to this new Ohio plant?
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Thanks for being positive, but I am sure myself and many others want a Japanese exotic car that is built in Japan. If it were built in mexico or china, I would go ape manure
Let us not forget what Senna contributed to F1, NSX and the world.
Oh yea, one thing that I want to point out. Maybe it will motivate American employees, etc., but I'm sure it will not increase jobs. I don't think 1,000 people will be working on the NSX 2.0 production line... I hope not...
Let us not forget what Senna contributed to F1, NSX and the world.
Oh yea, one thing that I want to point out. Maybe it will motivate American employees, etc., but I'm sure it will not increase jobs. I don't think 1,000 people will be working on the NSX 2.0 production line... I hope not...
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Because in 1990, Honda only had five cars in production:
Legend, Integra/Civic, Accord/Vigor, Civic/CRX, and Prelude.
They were still quite young as a auto manufacture so it was a good selling point for them. Now they're know as a company that builds bullet proof cars, I don't think they need to push that. It is however, a good selling point.
Everyone knows that Japanese robots are more accurate than American Robots and more efficient, willing to work longer hours and accept to wear white doctor style jackets. They also don't drink beer.
Nah, American robots used to make silicon chips are very accurate, like those made by Applied Materials. But the Japanese wafer steppers are the best in the world.
Anyone also considered that applications to work on the NSX may be filled by relocated workers from Japan and that maybe some of NSX 1.0 crew will be working or maybe managing the NSX 2.0 crew?
It would be great if the new NSX were to be built in the same japanese plant by the same japanese workers as we had in 1990. But that isn't economically feasable or in the best longterm interest of Honda Corp. Global economics aside, Japan is experiencing a rapidly shrinking available workforce due to old age. For the first time ever some companies are turning to foreign workers and technology to perform those jobs.
Today's American autoworker is not the uneducated school dropout that prevailed in the past. (At least in the japanese auto manufacturing model.) Nine years ago, I played a small part in recruiting the Toyota plant here in San Antonio. Toyota required at least some college and no prior experience in auto manufacturing. They wanted a workforce trained the Toyota way which is somewhat different from the American auto manufacturing culture. Also they wanted critical thinking skills. An autoworker in their factory has the responsibility to stop everything if they see a problem at their station. They are accountable to bring their team together and find a solution to the problem. This is common quality control at most japanese manufacturers.
Remember in 1990 the workers who built our cars had to have at least 10 years of quality automotive manufacturing experience at Honda. They have been building Hondas in Ohio since the mid 80s. So it is conceivable that the team building the new NSX could have twice that experience. And, since the new NSX is to be Honda's halo car, it's doubtful that the quality goals are less than those on our cars. I believe Ohio can do it right. But the the question still remains; will it be the car I would want to buy? I remain hopeful.
Today's American autoworker is not the uneducated school dropout that prevailed in the past. (At least in the japanese auto manufacturing model.) Nine years ago, I played a small part in recruiting the Toyota plant here in San Antonio. Toyota required at least some college and no prior experience in auto manufacturing. They wanted a workforce trained the Toyota way which is somewhat different from the American auto manufacturing culture. Also they wanted critical thinking skills. An autoworker in their factory has the responsibility to stop everything if they see a problem at their station. They are accountable to bring their team together and find a solution to the problem. This is common quality control at most japanese manufacturers.
Remember in 1990 the workers who built our cars had to have at least 10 years of quality automotive manufacturing experience at Honda. They have been building Hondas in Ohio since the mid 80s. So it is conceivable that the team building the new NSX could have twice that experience. And, since the new NSX is to be Honda's halo car, it's doubtful that the quality goals are less than those on our cars. I believe Ohio can do it right. But the the question still remains; will it be the car I would want to buy? I remain hopeful.
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Article
Honda Motor Co.'s choice to build what it calls a racing-oriented "supercar" in Ohio highlights confidence in its U.S. engineers and plants. It also shows the difficulty of producing autos in Japan as the yen rises.
When the high-performance hybrid Acura NSX goes on sale within 3 years, it will be the most expensive and technologically advanced car ever built in the U.S. by an Asian or European automaker. Ohio will be the sole global production site for the car executives suggest will sell for more than $100,000.
"This is a halo vehicle," said John Shook, a former Toyota engineer, referring to a model that represents the highest ideal of a brand. He is also chairman of the Lean Enterprise Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which consults on efficiency techniques. "Where you make it makes a statement. It's a great thing for their local operation, and indicative of challenges in Japan."
The surprise NSX plan, revealed by President Takanobu Ito in Detroit last week, follows Honda's August announcement that a Mexican plant will make small cars to curb losses from exporting models such as the Fit from Japan. The 2 projects will give Honda the ability to produce its entire vehicle range, from cheapest to most expensive, within North America, a 1st for any carmaker based outside the U.S.
'Pulp Fiction'
The original $89,000 NSX that sold from 1989 to 2005 was built in Suzuka, Japan, and was favored by performance-car fans for its high power and light, all-aluminum body. It gained pop- culture fame when it was driven in 1994's "Pulp Fiction" by Winston "The Wolf" Wolfe, played by Harvey Keitel.
Noting a destination is 30 minutes away, he says: "I'll be there in 10."
Honda's production shift along with rising North American capacity for Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. signal a long-term move by Japan's automakers to battle currency-related losses.
The yen has risen 7.7% against the dollar in the past 12 months, the strongest performer against the 16 most- traded currencies tracked by Bloomberg. Each 1 yen rise against the currency cuts Honda's operating profit by 15 billion yen ($195 million), according to the company.
"It may be an appeal to the U.S. market, to show Honda starting production of an edgy car in the U.S.," said Mitsushige Akino, who oversees $600 million at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co. in Tokyo. "It may also be a message to the Japanese market of Honda's actual start of a production shift."
Honda, which has its U.S. headquarters in Torrance, California, also needs the new sports car to attract customers to other Acura models. U.S. deliveries of the brand's cars and sport-utility vehicles fell 7.7% last year to 123,299.
The company's American depositary receipts rose 1.9% to $34.54 at the close in New York. They've gained 13% this year.
'Hollowing Out'
Carlos Ghosn, chief executive officer of Nissan and its alliance partner Renault SA, has warned that unless Japan finds a way to tame the yen's rise, the country's auto industry faces a "hollowing out" of domestic production.
Nissan has moved fastest among Japan's automakers to shift production of low-cost autos to Thailand and Mexico, and last year was the 2nd-biggest importer of vehicles into Japan, behind only Volkswagen AG.
Honda's choice to make its costliest model abroad is unprecedented, said Koji Endo, an auto analyst at Advanced Research Japan.
"I was surprised," said Endo, who is based in Tokyo. "Even with this currency burden, I believed NSX would be 1 of the models that kept production in Japan, being high-end and with a hybrid system."
Responsible Fun
The all-wheel-drive NSX will have a newly developed 2- motor hybrid system that Honda says delivers high performance and handling as well as fuel efficiency.
"Even as we focus on the 'fun to drive spirit' of the NSX, I think a supercar must respond positively to environmental responsibilities," Ito said in Detroit on Jan. 9.
The company plans to race the car as well as sell it, said Ito, who was lead engineer on the 1st NSX in the 1980s. Its "mid-engine" design houses most of the weight of the powertrain in the center of the vehicle for optimal balance and agility.
While Honda doesn't yet make any hybrids in North America, this year it starts producing a gasoline-electric version of the new Acura ILX sedan in Greensburg, Indiana.
'Stretch Goals'
"Honda believes in setting 'stretch goals' for engineers, and that's clearly what NSX represents," said Jeff Liker, an engineering professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. "Their U.S. engineers have a high level of capability, but Honda also has these very expert engineers back in Japan to ensure the U.S. team succeeds."
3 reasons led to the choice to develop and build the NSX in Ohio, Tetsuo Iwamura, Honda's chief operating officer for North America, said in an interview last week.
"The U.S. is the largest market for it," Iwamura said. "It has a well-experienced, capable development team, and a very efficient, high-quality production team. That made it possible."
From Ohio, Honda will export the car to Japan, Europe, China and other markets, he said. The company isn't yet announcing the car's price, how much it will invest in an assembly line to build NSX or that factory's precise location.
All Honda plants in Ohio, including engine and transmission factories, will be involved in the project and many components and materials will be locally sourced, Iwamura said.
"Final assembly will be done with a small-scale facility, but including components we need to make use of the current Ohio production base," he said. "We have to ask suppliers, especially U.S. suppliers, to accommodate our request as much as possible."
30 Years
J.D. Power & Associates rated four of Honda's North American assembly lines among the region's 5 best in 2011. The company's Greensburg plant that opened in 2008 even won a "platinum" rating last year for new-car quality, tying 2 Lexus plants as the world's best.
Honda was 1st among Asia-based manufacturers to open an auto-assembly plant in the U.S., with its Marysville, Ohio, factory in 1982, and added its premium Acura line in 1986, ahead of Toyota's Lexus and Nissan's Infiniti.
In contrast to those 2 competitors, most Acuras sold in the U.S. are already built in North America, while Lexus and Infiniti count on Japan for most of their lineup.
Including the new ILX, 5 of 7 Acura models sold in the U.S. are made in the U.S. or Canada. Toyota builds only the Lexus RX sport-utility vehicle in North America, and Nissan is preparing to build Infiniti JX SUVs in Tennessee, after previously ending U.S. production of Infiniti models.
Entire Line
Honda may eventually produce its entire Acura line in North America, Iwamura said.
"Seeing the current trend, Acura models could be produced more in the U.S.," he said. The RL, now the most expensive Acura with a $47,700 base price, may remain in Japan, Iwamura said.
"If there's a good reason to bring that model from Japan to here, we could do that, but we don't have a plan -- at this moment," he said.
Toyota, Japan's largest automaker, plans to reduce exports from its home-country factories and build up North America as an export base, Yoshimi Inaba, chief operating officer for the region, said in Detroit last week. That may include adding production capacity in Mexico, Inaba said.
Nissan, Too
Nissan, too, is boosting production at auto plants across the Americas to offset currency-related losses, Bill Krueger, vice chairman for the region, said Jan. 11 in Detroit. The Yokohama-based company's goal is to get 85% of Nissan and Infiniti cars and trucks sold in North and South America from plants in the region, up from 70% now.
Honda, which typically sells the highest portion of autos in the U.S. from North American plants among Asian automakers, was already at an 85% local production rate in 2011.
For the Acura brand alone, 74% of models sold in the U.S. were supplied by regional factories.
The Suzuka plant that made the original NSX is taking on production of low-cost minicars and their small engines, the company said this month. Such vehicles are sold mainly in Japan.
"Suzuka remains the base for next-generation technology," said Tomohiro Okada, a company spokesman in Tokyo. "Production of these new minicars requires the top technology, in terms of weight and cost savings."
Honda Motor Co.'s choice to build what it calls a racing-oriented "supercar" in Ohio highlights confidence in its U.S. engineers and plants. It also shows the difficulty of producing autos in Japan as the yen rises.
When the high-performance hybrid Acura NSX goes on sale within 3 years, it will be the most expensive and technologically advanced car ever built in the U.S. by an Asian or European automaker. Ohio will be the sole global production site for the car executives suggest will sell for more than $100,000.
"This is a halo vehicle," said John Shook, a former Toyota engineer, referring to a model that represents the highest ideal of a brand. He is also chairman of the Lean Enterprise Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which consults on efficiency techniques. "Where you make it makes a statement. It's a great thing for their local operation, and indicative of challenges in Japan."
The surprise NSX plan, revealed by President Takanobu Ito in Detroit last week, follows Honda's August announcement that a Mexican plant will make small cars to curb losses from exporting models such as the Fit from Japan. The 2 projects will give Honda the ability to produce its entire vehicle range, from cheapest to most expensive, within North America, a 1st for any carmaker based outside the U.S.
'Pulp Fiction'
The original $89,000 NSX that sold from 1989 to 2005 was built in Suzuka, Japan, and was favored by performance-car fans for its high power and light, all-aluminum body. It gained pop- culture fame when it was driven in 1994's "Pulp Fiction" by Winston "The Wolf" Wolfe, played by Harvey Keitel.
Noting a destination is 30 minutes away, he says: "I'll be there in 10."
Honda's production shift along with rising North American capacity for Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. signal a long-term move by Japan's automakers to battle currency-related losses.
The yen has risen 7.7% against the dollar in the past 12 months, the strongest performer against the 16 most- traded currencies tracked by Bloomberg. Each 1 yen rise against the currency cuts Honda's operating profit by 15 billion yen ($195 million), according to the company.
"It may be an appeal to the U.S. market, to show Honda starting production of an edgy car in the U.S.," said Mitsushige Akino, who oversees $600 million at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co. in Tokyo. "It may also be a message to the Japanese market of Honda's actual start of a production shift."
Honda, which has its U.S. headquarters in Torrance, California, also needs the new sports car to attract customers to other Acura models. U.S. deliveries of the brand's cars and sport-utility vehicles fell 7.7% last year to 123,299.
The company's American depositary receipts rose 1.9% to $34.54 at the close in New York. They've gained 13% this year.
'Hollowing Out'
Carlos Ghosn, chief executive officer of Nissan and its alliance partner Renault SA, has warned that unless Japan finds a way to tame the yen's rise, the country's auto industry faces a "hollowing out" of domestic production.
Nissan has moved fastest among Japan's automakers to shift production of low-cost autos to Thailand and Mexico, and last year was the 2nd-biggest importer of vehicles into Japan, behind only Volkswagen AG.
Honda's choice to make its costliest model abroad is unprecedented, said Koji Endo, an auto analyst at Advanced Research Japan.
"I was surprised," said Endo, who is based in Tokyo. "Even with this currency burden, I believed NSX would be 1 of the models that kept production in Japan, being high-end and with a hybrid system."
Responsible Fun
The all-wheel-drive NSX will have a newly developed 2- motor hybrid system that Honda says delivers high performance and handling as well as fuel efficiency.
"Even as we focus on the 'fun to drive spirit' of the NSX, I think a supercar must respond positively to environmental responsibilities," Ito said in Detroit on Jan. 9.
The company plans to race the car as well as sell it, said Ito, who was lead engineer on the 1st NSX in the 1980s. Its "mid-engine" design houses most of the weight of the powertrain in the center of the vehicle for optimal balance and agility.
While Honda doesn't yet make any hybrids in North America, this year it starts producing a gasoline-electric version of the new Acura ILX sedan in Greensburg, Indiana.
'Stretch Goals'
"Honda believes in setting 'stretch goals' for engineers, and that's clearly what NSX represents," said Jeff Liker, an engineering professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. "Their U.S. engineers have a high level of capability, but Honda also has these very expert engineers back in Japan to ensure the U.S. team succeeds."
3 reasons led to the choice to develop and build the NSX in Ohio, Tetsuo Iwamura, Honda's chief operating officer for North America, said in an interview last week.
"The U.S. is the largest market for it," Iwamura said. "It has a well-experienced, capable development team, and a very efficient, high-quality production team. That made it possible."
From Ohio, Honda will export the car to Japan, Europe, China and other markets, he said. The company isn't yet announcing the car's price, how much it will invest in an assembly line to build NSX or that factory's precise location.
All Honda plants in Ohio, including engine and transmission factories, will be involved in the project and many components and materials will be locally sourced, Iwamura said.
"Final assembly will be done with a small-scale facility, but including components we need to make use of the current Ohio production base," he said. "We have to ask suppliers, especially U.S. suppliers, to accommodate our request as much as possible."
30 Years
J.D. Power & Associates rated four of Honda's North American assembly lines among the region's 5 best in 2011. The company's Greensburg plant that opened in 2008 even won a "platinum" rating last year for new-car quality, tying 2 Lexus plants as the world's best.
Honda was 1st among Asia-based manufacturers to open an auto-assembly plant in the U.S., with its Marysville, Ohio, factory in 1982, and added its premium Acura line in 1986, ahead of Toyota's Lexus and Nissan's Infiniti.
In contrast to those 2 competitors, most Acuras sold in the U.S. are already built in North America, while Lexus and Infiniti count on Japan for most of their lineup.
Including the new ILX, 5 of 7 Acura models sold in the U.S. are made in the U.S. or Canada. Toyota builds only the Lexus RX sport-utility vehicle in North America, and Nissan is preparing to build Infiniti JX SUVs in Tennessee, after previously ending U.S. production of Infiniti models.
Entire Line
Honda may eventually produce its entire Acura line in North America, Iwamura said.
"Seeing the current trend, Acura models could be produced more in the U.S.," he said. The RL, now the most expensive Acura with a $47,700 base price, may remain in Japan, Iwamura said.
"If there's a good reason to bring that model from Japan to here, we could do that, but we don't have a plan -- at this moment," he said.
Toyota, Japan's largest automaker, plans to reduce exports from its home-country factories and build up North America as an export base, Yoshimi Inaba, chief operating officer for the region, said in Detroit last week. That may include adding production capacity in Mexico, Inaba said.
Nissan, Too
Nissan, too, is boosting production at auto plants across the Americas to offset currency-related losses, Bill Krueger, vice chairman for the region, said Jan. 11 in Detroit. The Yokohama-based company's goal is to get 85% of Nissan and Infiniti cars and trucks sold in North and South America from plants in the region, up from 70% now.
Honda, which typically sells the highest portion of autos in the U.S. from North American plants among Asian automakers, was already at an 85% local production rate in 2011.
For the Acura brand alone, 74% of models sold in the U.S. were supplied by regional factories.
The Suzuka plant that made the original NSX is taking on production of low-cost minicars and their small engines, the company said this month. Such vehicles are sold mainly in Japan.
"Suzuka remains the base for next-generation technology," said Tomohiro Okada, a company spokesman in Tokyo. "Production of these new minicars requires the top technology, in terms of weight and cost savings."
There are many European brand cars being built in the U.S. and the Americas and have been for some time.
I thought that was common knowledge.
LF/A is mading in Japan because... (Insert your opinion here). LF/A is not a mass production vehicle and the facility required to make CFRP chassis is not available here.
Honda gave you every reason why they are making that car here without sugar coating anything, and is telling the world "Look, American labor is just as desirable as Japanese labor - As long as it is under Japanese philosophy."
What if Honda completely move out of Japan and set up their world wide headquarter here in the US?
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Am looking at a silver Hot wheels HSC I bought in 2005.
6 years later here we are, still 2+ yrs out.
I hope things go well for this car, just seems to me the world is passing by and this car just sits.
Not sure how long I will keep my 94. But so far nothing else really interests me. Is that so wrong?
Mid engine all alum cars don't seem to pop up all that often.
Maybe its just me..............
6 years later here we are, still 2+ yrs out.
I hope things go well for this car, just seems to me the world is passing by and this car just sits.
Not sure how long I will keep my 94. But so far nothing else really interests me. Is that so wrong?
Mid engine all alum cars don't seem to pop up all that often.
Maybe its just me..............
yes I am aware there are many European brand cars made in the states (IE: Daimler AG/Dailmler Chrysler)
Maybe I wasn't specific enough, but this is Honda/Acura's flagship car.
Panameras/911's are made in Germany and I believe all Ferrari's are made in Italy. I don't know if you would put both cars on the same level, but I think you wouldn't want your 458 Italia/Enzo being made in the U.S. or would you?
I understand your valid point, but again as I stated above, I am sure you wouldn't want your Enzo being made in the states or would you (under Italian philosophy)?
It almost did forty years ago when Ford almost bought Ferrari...lol
I can careless where it is made as long as it still possess the Honda workmanship and philosophy. It can be made in China as long as the car delivers.
In regard to a 458 or Enzo it doesn't matter to me where they are made because I can't afford to buy either and don't know if I would, if I could.
If you don't want to buy a car because of bias for what country it is made or the race, ethnic or ancestry makeup of people on the assembly line then that's your decision. :smile:
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ouch, ouch and OUCH!
it's not about ethnicity or prejudice. It's about the work ethic, engineering and philosophy that Honda R&D Japan, Inc. could bring to the table. Not saying they're better than Honda R&D Americas, Inc. by a long stretch. I just want some of that wasabi (not tabasco sauce) in my futo maki if you know what I mean.
Coming from Columbus, Ohio and after marrying my wife who worked as an engineer at Honda of America Manufacturing, I can safely say that there is a lot of short sighted cluelessness that exists in this thread. Some of the comments here are as unfounded as they are stupid and ignorant. If a product being made in the USA is what diminishes your desire for ANY product, I am saddened for your complete loss of comprehension.
Spend some time working with and talking with the good folks who work for Honda in Ohio. They bleed Honda. They eat from the Honda trough and chase it with Honda oil.
If you want to buy foreign so badly, buy Chevy.
Spend some time working with and talking with the good folks who work for Honda in Ohio. They bleed Honda. They eat from the Honda trough and chase it with Honda oil.
If you want to buy foreign so badly, buy Chevy.
+10
It's about feeling more comfortable that YOUR car was built by a worker who cares more about the company and the quality than he does about himself...than by a worker who shows up to work on Monday still hung over from the NASCAR weekend keg party....and is P.O.'ed that his wife recently left him for his cousin.
+10
It's about feeling more comfortable that YOUR car was built by a worker who cares more about the company and the quality than he does about himself...than by a worker who shows up to work on Monday still hung over from the NASCAR weekend keg party....and is P.O.'ed that his wife recently left him for his cousin.
Wow that's pretty raw.
Ever since I read an article on the quality control (or rather, lack of it) found on domestic cars (example: a half-eaten peanut butter sandwich found left inside the passenger door of a new Camaro, etc...), that's been my take on things.
Just because a particular manufacturer in a specific country has poor quality, doesn't mean everyone in that country is crap. The US makes Boeing airlines, state of the art fighter jets, helicopters, and rockets for NASA. I'm sure these workers could put together something as simple as a car.
Honda has a different philosophy than GM/Ford, so don't expect the same worker mentality or quality. We've bought into the Honda cool-aid, so it really shouldn't matter to us where they locate their manufacturing facilities. The final product must still meet Honda's quality standard regardless of where it was made.
Honda has a different philosophy than GM/Ford, so don't expect the same worker mentality or quality. We've bought into the Honda cool-aid, so it really shouldn't matter to us where they locate their manufacturing facilities. The final product must still meet Honda's quality standard regardless of where it was made.
Ahhh yes, southern bigotry. And we're the racists...riiight.
My wife is from SoCal and was amazed to find that southerners aren't toothless inbred overall wearers that all the supposed liberal elites think we are.
I wonder how far this thread would go if I started rattling off some racists comments about asians?
Sooo I guess racism and bigotry is ok as long as its against white southern Americans huh?
So using your own logic I'm not going to buy any parts from you cause you're located in Texas and must be an ignorant cowboy. I'm going to order my parts from a Japanese parts distributor because they must know my car better than some ignorant bigoted horse molesting cowboy.
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