Honda Eyes New North America Factory, Report Says

The AIADA NEWS LETTER REPORTED THAT Honda is considering an eighth assembly plant in North America, CEO Toshihiro Mibe told a Japanese newspaper. North America — Honda’s largest and most profitable market — accounted for about 40 percent of the company’s global sales last year.

Its factories in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada are running nearly at maximum capacity. “It’s almost in full production,” Mibe told Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun. “If you don’t have a buffer, you can’t recover production.” An additional plant would deliver breathing room critical for supply chain resilience and sales growth.

“I want to increase the number of sales in North America a lot,” Mibe said in the interview published July 18. “The basic idea is to produce in a place where there is demand.” In the U.S., American Honda is targeting more than 9 percent market share in 2026 and expects to outperform the industry, reports Automotive News.

Honda’s U.S. factories in Ohio, Indiana and Alabama operate at 85 percent of their 1.2 million total vehicle capacity, according to GlobalData. The automaker’s total North America factory utilization rate stands at about 90 percent of a maximum 1.8 million units.