Honda raises the bar for Alabama plant

Not yet a year into production, Honda Manufacturing of Alabama is undertaking a massive expansion of its Odyssey minivan plant.

It says something about the success of Honda's new factory in Alabama that, less than a year after mass production began, plant manager executives were instructed, first, to increase production by 25%, then, having initiated the expansion, to add another entire assembly line. That means, basically, building a mirror-image assembly plant and connecting it to the existing one.

Plant Manager Charles Ernst (official title: Vice President of Manufacturing Operations) is happy Honda is giving him more than a year to get the $425 million second factory up and running. “There is pressure to raise the bar,” he allowed.