Honda Canada kicks off global Civic production
By Jim Robinson
ALLISTON, ONT. – Honda Canada celebrated a global milestone Tuesday as the first 2016 Civic rolled off the line at its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant.
As the global lead plant, Alliston not only launched production around the world but it is also responsible for developing the processes and tooling that will form the manufacturing base at all Honda plants globally slated to build the tenth generation Civic model.
The Civic sedan is the first in a series of new tenth-generation models that will also include a coupe, high-performance Si models, a five-door hatchback and the first-ever Civic Type-R model for the Canadian market.
All Civic sedans and coupes sold in Canada will be built at Alliston.
The “first off” ceremony follows the announcement almost a year ago that the plant will see an $857 million investment in processes and technology over the next three years.
Civic has been Canada’s best selling passenger car for the past 17 years; More than 4.5 million Civics have been produced in Alliston with over 1.89 million sold in Canada alone.
“Civic is a vehicle that Canadians have grown to trust. This tenth-generation model will continue to set a new benchmark in the compact class with fun-to-drive performance, fuel efficiency and safety performance, together with a new level of refinement,” said Jerry Chenkin, president and CEO, Honda Canada.
“Canadians can also take pride in knowing that every Civic coupe, sedan and Si model sold in Canada is made right here in Ontario, for Canadians, by Canadians.”
Honda Canada Manufacturing (HCM) has more than 4,000 workers and builds 400,000 Civic and CR-V models each year for the Canadian and North America markets, as well as for export. Of that number, 100,000 Canadian-built Civic and CR-V units are sold annually here in Canada. HCM also produces 260,000 four-cylinder engines annually.
Interestingly, Honda was the first Japanese carmaker to build cars in Canada, opening in 1986 and has since produced the Honda Accord, Odyssey, Pilot and Ridgeline, as well as Acura EL, CSX, MDX and ZDX.
The Civic has been in production for 43 years.
