Honda to build CR-V at Marysville plant

Honda officials said the automaker will add production of the CR-V sport utility vehicle to Marysville in order to keep up with high demand from consumers.

That vehicle is already being produced at three other sites, including Honda’s nearby East Liberty plant, said Chris Abbruzzese, a spokesman for Honda. The additional production is not expected to create more jobs, but will allow the company to meet consumer demand, he said.

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“Last year was the sixth straight year of record growth for the CR-V, and we anticipate continued strong demand,” Abbruzzese said. “Adding a fourth plant for CR-V production will help us meet customer demand.”

Production in Marysville is expected to begin this summer, but a more detailed timeline was not available.

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Honda also manufactures the CR-V at sites in Indiana and Canada. Workers at the Marysville plant also assemble the latest Honda Accord sedan, as well as the Acura ILX and TLX. The Marysville plant has the capacity to assemble about 440,000 vehicles a year and will be able to accommodate the additional work with the CR-V, Abbruzzese said.

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The Japanese automaker recently invested about $220 million in the Marysville facility as part of its redesign of the Accord, the company’s flagship sedan. About 1,400 workers from Clark and Champaign counties work for the manufacturer, and it employs about 14,500 Ohioans overall.

Information from Honda shows the company sold about 378,000 CR-V models in 2017, up about 6 percent from the roughly 357,000 sales figure from 2016.

Honda hit an all-time sales record in 2017, barely edging out a sales total the Japanese automaker hit the previous year. Overall, the company sold more than 1.64 million Honda and Acura vehicles last year, a 0.2-percent improvement over 2016.

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