Honda US has marked the start of production of the fully redesigned, Alabama-built 2011 Odyssey minivan with an end of the line celebration involving around 1,200 workers at Honda Manufacturing of Alabama (HMA) in Lincoln.
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The Odyssey has been the top selling minivan in the US for the past two years and is considered the benchmark vehicle in the minivan class.
“In about four weeks, our Honda dealers will have this new Odyssey on their showroom floor. But I don’t think it will be there for long,” said Vicki Poponi, assistant vice president of product planning for American Honda Motor.
HMA is the exclusive global production source of the Odyssey minivan, the Pilot sport utility vehicle and the Ridgeline pickup. The Lincoln plant also shares production of the Accord V6 sedan with the Marysville plant in Ohio and builds the V6 engines that power each model.
Art StCyr, chief engineer, said: “It’s called the American Odyssey because – for the first time – the Odyssey minivan was designed, developed, and manufactured in the US.”
The 2011 model’s more aerodynamic shape with a lower roofline contributes to class leading fuel efficiency; yet improved interior packaging maintains similar vertical functionality as the previous model. A wider stance creates a more accommodating interior.
On Friday, 3 September, the US$1.4bn Lincoln plant will mark another milestone with production of the 2m Honda vehicle to be built there. The facility employs over 4,000 and can build 300,000 vehicles and V6 engines each year.
