Honda to invest $3 billion in new vehicle assembly plant in Ohio

MARYSVILLE, Ohio — Honda Motor plans to invest $3 billion to build a new vehicle assembly plant in Ohio, the automaker announced Monday.

Honda said the new plant, which will be near its other facilities in Marysville, Ohio, is expected to begin production in 2029, have a capacity for 240,000 vehicles annually and create more than 2,000 jobs.

The facility is expected to be capable of producing traditional vehicles with internal combustion engines, all-electric vehicles and hybrid models, which have been growing in popularity in the U.S.

Honda declined to disclose what vehicles the company plans to produce at the new facility.

The plant is expected to increase Honda's light-duty vehicle capacity to 1.3 million units annually in the U.S. It currently has 12 manufacturing plants in United States, eight of which produce engines or light-duty vehicles for the auto industry.

"This is not simply an investment in another plant. It is an investment in the future of Honda manufacturing in America," Bob Nelson, executive vice president of American Honda Motor, said during the announcement at the company's U.S. heritage center in Ohio.

The auto industry has been trying to localize more production amid President Donald Trump's tariffs and inflated logistics costs that have cut into profits.

Nelson told CNBC after the event that tariffs are affecting the company's business but the new plant is more about Honda's ambitions to grow in the U.S.

"Tariffs are an impact to us, even with the high localization rate that we have," he said. "But the real impact is that we have customers out there wanting Honda product and we can't give it to them. That's the real area."

Nelson said Honda did not work with the Trump administration ahead of Monday's announcement.

Honda's plans for a new plant come roughly two weeks after Volkswagen-owned luxury brand Audi announced it would invest more than $4 billion in a new plant at a rally with President Donald Trump, which Audi CEO Gernot Dollner faced criticism for attending.

Honda's new plant is the company's first new mass production U.S. vehicle assembly plant since it opened a facility in Indiana in 2008. It also opened a $70 million performance vehicle facility in 2016 and a multibillion-dollar joint venture battery plant earlier this year, both in Ohio.

The announcement comes after the automaker in May indefinitely suspended an $11 billion investment plan to produce all-electric vehicles and batteries in Canada. It also canceled three planned EVs for the U.S. market.

American Honda Motor Co. executive Jennifer Thomas recently emphasized the Japanese automaker's commitment to the U.S. and need for additional capacity.

"In order to be competitive in this market, you're going to need to build products here," Thomas, senior vice president of corporate affairs, said Oct. 27 in Detroit. "We are focused on trying to maximize the existing capacity that we have, but we are at capacity, and so we're exploring all options."

Thomas also warned the automotive industry faces a "catastrophic" scenario if the U.S. and Canada cannot reach a new trade deal by the end of this year, when Trump has threatened to double tariffs on Canadian vehicles and parts from 25% to 50% on Jan. 1 if the two countries don't reach a deal.

Honda said it has built more than 33 million vehicles and more than 39 million engines in the U.S. since it started auto production in the U.S. in 1982.

The Japanese automaker currently has more than 30,000 employees in the U.S.