Automotive News Canada - April 2022 - 15

* APRIL 2022
15
Amid CR-V fanfare,
Civic duty endures
Honda's immediate
electric ambitions
don't include a hybrid
model, but when
that happens, it's
forecast to be built
in the United States
By DAVID KENNEDY
T ORONTO BUREAU CHIEF
DESPITE BEING CANADA'S
bestselling small car for nearly
a quarter-century, the Alliston,
Ont.-built Honda Civic took a
back seat March 16 as the automaker
announced a $1.4-billion
plan to retool its three-plant campus,
about 100 kilometres northwest
of Toronto.
The centrepiece of the sixyear
spending plan is the redesigned
2023 CR-V crossover. As
Honda's bestselling vehicle overall
in Canada, the CR-V outsold
the Civic by more than 7,000 vehicles
(50,935 to 43,556) in 2021. The
CR-V is the other vehicle produced
at the four-million-squarefoot
(370,000 square-metre) Honda
of Canada Manufacturing complex
in Alliston. Crews at Plant 2
are scheduled to begin building
the gasoline-powered version this
summer.
Production
of the
2023 CR-V
Hybrid,
which is
new to
Canada,
will begin
in the fall.
For context,
the
Toyota RAV4,
which offers
several
hybrid versions,
outsold
Leclerc: " All our
core models will
have a hybrid
component " and
the Civic is a
core vehicle.
FILE PHOTO
hybrids, Leclerc said.
" Obviously with gas prices
the way they are, people's interest
goes up
along with
it.
" And we
believe these
customers
that are buying
hybrids
will be the
customers
that we will
be transitioning
to
battery-electrics
in the
future. "
In April
2021, global
CEO
Toshihiro Mibe laid out Honda's
plan to convert its North
American lineup to battery or
hydrogen-fuel-cell electric by
2040. It has set transitional targets
of 40 per cent electric by 2030
and 80 per cent by 2035.
What role Ontario will play
in the shift is not entirely
clear. While Plant 2 in Alliston
will soon be building the CR-V
Hybrid, Honda would not confirm
what it has in store for Plant
1, which has been churning out
the different generations of gasoline-powered
Civics since 1988.
Upgrades
of some sort
are planned
on the longtime
Civic
production
line, Honda
confirmed.
According
to the
When Honda announced a $1.4-billion
retooling of its plants at Alliston, Ont.,
the focus was on the CR-V crossover.
But Canada's bestselling small car -
the Civic - is well embedded there.
PHOTO: HONDA
the CR-V in 2021 by 10,000 units,
or nearly 20 per cent.
But as that battle continues,
Honda has not forgotten about
the Civic, said Honda Canada Inc.
CEO Jean Marc Leclerc. It outpaced
the second-place Toyota
Corolla in 2021 by more than 3,000
units.
Honda also hasn't forgotten the
Civic's long history in Alliston,
said Sam Fiorani, vice-president
of global vehicle forecasting
at U.S.-based AutoForecast
Solutions (AFS).
" All our core models will have
a hybrid component, " Leclerc told
Automotive News Canada, adding
that the Civic is among this
select group. Though wary about
revealing product plans, he said a
hybrid Civic " will fall in line with
that direction. "
A BATTERY-ELECTRIC FUTURE
Honda plans to use hybrid
technology as a steppingstone
to full electrification as it eventually
phases out internal-combustion-engine
(ICE) vehicles.
The company is already seeing
strong customer demand for
announcement
March
16, the
$1.4-billion
retrofit covers
the cost
of " retooling
both production lines " at Honda
of Canada Manufacturing.
Leclerc acknowledged that
the Civic had " very deep roots "
in Alliston, but he would not
say whether the program - or
an upcoming hybrid version -
would remain in Ontario.
" Anything can change. I mean,
there's a lot of moving parts right
now in the industry as to where
things are going to get built. "
According to the Automotive
News Research & Data Center,
total 2021 Alliston output was
141,978 Civics and 150,211 CR-Vs.
Fiorani of AFS said the Civic
is expected to remain in Alliston
through the 2020s, though it will
not be getting the hybrid treatment
soon.
The Ontario plant began production
of the latest Civic in
May 2021. The 11th generation
is slated to stay at Plant 1 until
mid-2028, when the line will be
retooled to build the next generation
of the gasoline-powered
Civic, Fiorani said.
He did not have a precise
arrival date for the hybrid Civic
but said the Alliston plant is forecast
to miss out on that variant.
" It will be produced in the
United States, not Canada, "
Fiorani said. The hybrid is destined
for Honda's other North
American Civic plant, in
Greensburg, Ind., which also
builds the Civic-platformed
Insight hybrid, he said.
ENGINE PLANT STILL CHUGGING
As the transition from ICEs
to EVs becomes reality, Honda's
third plant in Alliston will also
see changes. The site builds
four-cylinder gasoline engines for
the Civic and CR-V. Those will be
needed as long as ICE or hybrid
vehicles are in production, but
not once Honda's battery-electric
vehicles arrive.
Still, Fiorani expects the
engines from the plant to remain
in high demand through the end
of the 2020s.
" It should be secure for a number
of years yet because internal-combustion
engines will be on
Hondas for years to come before
they start to eliminate all of the
engines, " he said.
But the plant's longevity has its
limits if Honda expects to have a
fully electric lineup by 2040.
Leclerc would not speculate
on what alternative products the
engine plant could shift to but
said Honda has built considerable
expertise in Alliston. That will be
key in the automaker's plans.
" When it comes to making decisions
as to where we build vehicles
of the future, where we build
engines, where we build batteries,
that's going to be in that discussion,
there's no doubt in my
mind. " - ANC
The assembly line isn't stopping at Alliston Plant 2
because of a retooling to accommodate a hybrid. " CR-V's
our bestselling vehicle, so we really can't miss a beat, "
said Honda Canada CEO Jean Marc Leclerc. FILE PHOTO
Production continues
during hybrid retooling
CREWS AT HONDA OF
Canada Manufacturing have
been building the CR-V since
2012 and, after a retool begun
late last year, will soon add
the hybrid variant of the
crossover to their production
schedules.
Unlike many plant retrofits
that require shutting down
production, the automaker
has tackled the retool at Plant
2 in Alliston, Ont., while keeping
the line running.
" There's no disruption
because of the way that we've
arranged the work being
done, " said Honda Canada
Inc. CEO Jean Marc Leclerc.
" CR-V's our bestselling vehicle,
so we really can't miss a
beat. "
The first 2023 CR-V Hybrid
is scheduled to leave the
refitted line this fall, and in
short order, Honda expects
the plant to be producing as
The 2023 CR-V Hybrid is
expected to start coming off
the line this fall (2022 model
pictured). PHOTO: HONDA
many hybrid versions as it
does gasoline. The plant has
the capacity to produce more
than 200,000 of the two CR-V
variants each year.
Honda's Alliston site will
be the lead plant for the 2023
CR-V Hybrid, which is new
to Canada. The automaker
has previously built the
hybrid crossover at its plant
in Greensburg, Ind., but not
made it available north of the
border. - ANC
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Automotive News Canada - April 2022

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