Honda Shifts North American Production

TORRANCE, California — Honda Motor is shifting production of several models among its North American plants, as the Japanese automaker grapples with an ongoing shortage of parts from Japanese suppliers and fine-tunes its North American model mix to meet buyers' changing tastes.

In response to an e-mail query from Inside Line, a Honda spokesman on Tuesday confirmed that the company plans to build its redesigned CR-V at three North American plants, including East Liberty, Ohio, Alliston, Ontario, and El Salto, Jalisco.

Meanwhile, production of the Acura MDX will shift from Alliston to Lincoln, Alabama, for model year 2013. The Lincoln plant currently assembles the Honda Pilot, Ridgeline and Odyssey.

The Alliston plant will continue to build the Civic and Civic Si, as well as the Acura ZDX and CSX, a Civic-derived sedan sold only in Canada.

Production of the Acura RDX will shift from Marysville, Ohio, to East Liberty. In addition to the RDX and the CR-V, the East Liberty plant will continue to build the Accord Crosstour.

Honda said that more than 80 percent of the vehicles that it sells in North America are assembled in the region.

Inside Line says: Although it has been particularly hard hit by the Japan earthquake and tsunami, Honda also has been more resilient than some of its Japanese counterparts because it has designed its assembly plants to be among the most flexible in the industry.