Honda is to stop production of its Ohio-built Crosstour, a slow-selling crossover variant of the ‘wide body’ Accord, as part of what the carmaker described as an “alignment of its US product portfolio”.
Effective with the 2016 model year, Crosstour production will stop at the East Liberty plant which also builds the CR-V and Acura RDX. Production of the Accord Hybrid will move from Marysville to Sayama in Japan.
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John Mendel, executive vice president, American Honda, said the Crosstour, introduced in 2010, had played a “positive role” in helping the Honda brand target North American crossover buyers.
“However, the crossover segment has evolved and we believe the all-new 2016 HR-V launching later this spring will create new value for crossover shoppers and play a more significant role as a gateway model for the Honda brand to drive light truck sales growth.
“This move will allow the East Liberty plant to focus on meeting demand for the CR-V and a refreshed 2016 Acura RDX and, as announced last month, expand light truck production in early 2017 with the MDX.”
The transfer of the hybrid from Marysville to Sayama, he added, would better optimise the company’s global production capabilities, enabling the US factory to focus on producing Accord sedans and coupes and the Acura TLX and ILX performance sedans.
