Honda Motor Company Ltd. announced on Monday, December 12th, that the new Acura ILX sedan, from its luxury vehicle division Acura, will be manufactured at the company's plant in Greensburg, Indiana.
President at Honda Manufacturing Indiana, Jun Nishimoto says, “Building this all-new Acura vehicle as the exclusive global source is a big responsibility for our associates. I am very proud of what our Indiana team has accomplished in such a short time, and we have great confidence in our ability to produce a world-class luxury vehicle that exceeds the expectations of Acura customers.”
During October this year, Honda plant in Indiana added around 1,000 jobs to support a 2-shift production schedule. Along with this, the production capacity of the plant has been doubled to 200,000 vehicles per annum. The production plant was also recognised by J.D. Power and Associates and honoured with a Platinum Award for outstanding quality, earlier this year.
The Indiana plant, established in October 2008, is currently engaged in manufacturing Honda Civic sedans and Honda Civic CNG models. The plant also supplies Civic models outside North America. The new Acura ILX sedan’s production is expected to commence from Spring of 2012.
Before entering the production stage, the new Acura ILX sedan will have an official unveiling at the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January next year. Alongside the new Acura ILX sedan, the luxury division of Honda will also introduce a new RDX sport-utility vehicle and next generation Acura NSX supercar in concept form.
The new Acura ILX sedan is a luxury model that is expected to be sold in both gasoline and gas-electric hybrid version. Another important fact about the new premium sedan model is that it will be the first hybrid model by the Acura division. Moreover, the luxury sedan is the first model from Acura to be manufactured at Honda's Indiana plant.
The new sedan will join existing models under luxury brand Acura which includes TL sedan, ZDX crossover vehicle and RDX & MDX sports utility vehicles. The new Acura ILX sedan will be the fifth Acura vehicle to be manufactured solely in America.
With expanding operations of this range of models in America, Honda Motor not only plans to strengthen its market position, but also shows its commitment towards increasing job opportunities in the country.
