US: Honda to shift Ridgeline pick-up build to Alabama from Ontario
Wednesday, March 12, 2008, AutomotiveWorld.com
Honda says it is to shift build of the Ridgeline, its only pick-up model, from its Alliston plant in Ontario to its facility in Lincoln, Alabama at the end of this year.
Building the Ridgeline in the US will allow Honda to increase production of the Civic at the Canadian plant. The small car will be manufactured on Alliston's number 2 line.
Ridgeline production, meanwhile, will be added to the Lincoln plant's Line 1, which currently produces the Odyssey. Line 2 will continue to build both this minivan and the Pilot crossover, the latter due for a model changeover later this year.
Honda notes that production at its Alabama facility will remain in the region of 300,000upa, the plant having built a record 314,145 vehicles last year.
The Ridgeline, launched at the Detroit motor show in January 2005, has been only a moderate success by Honda standards. High pricing was initially blamed for only 55,000 registrations in its first full year but sales fell 15% in 2007 to 42,795 units. The vehicle's first facelift is expected for the 2009 model year.
The vehicle competes with the Toyota Tacoma, Nissan Frontier, Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon and Ford Ranger.
Published on Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Free e-newsletters
Our free E-Newsletter service is an excellent way of staying up to date with news and features from around the global auto industry.
