HONDA QUITS MAKING MOTORCYCLES IN USA: According to the NASDAQ, Honda Has Ended It’s 30-Year Run; It Used To Make 75,000 Motorcycles A Year
The first bike out of Marysville was a motocross bike.
HONDA QUITS MAKING MOTORCYCLES IN USA: According the the NASDAQ Honda Has Ended It’s 30-Year Run; It Used To Make 75,000 Motorcycles A Year
Honda Motor Company, in an effort slim its manufacturing plants worldwide and has decided to discontinue production of bikes in its American plant in Marysville, Ohio. Honda officials believe the facility is not proving to be as effective as the Japanese plant in Kumamoto. The entire USA production portfolio will be transferred to the Japan. Marysville had an annual production capacity of 75,000 motorcycles from its 330,000 square-foot plant
The Marysville plant was started in 1979 and was currently producing the Goldwing as well as the VTX cruisers for the US market. Akio Hamada, president and chief executive of Honda, America referred this move to allow Honda to improve the competitiveness and appeal of its products by applying the latest technologies and production systems at one efficient location.
ACCORDING TO NASDAQ.COM:
Honda Motor Company wound down its U.S. motorcycle production earlier this month due to declining demand in that market, ending a practice that it had continued for 30 years.
The company was a forerunner among Japanese firms in making motorcycles in North America, having launched U.S. production in 1979. Its plant in Ohio had an annual output capacity of about 70,000 units. This facility produced the Gold Wing, a large 1800cc-class touring bike.
But the American motorcycle market shrank to 1.32 million units in 2008, down almost 30% from a recent peak of 1.79 million units in 2005. Honda concluded that the advantages of local production have faded and decided to export products from Japan to the U.S. market instead.
Honda's worldwide motorcycle business remains solid, with the firm boosting production in regions where demand is growing, mainly in Asia.
