MARYSVILLE, Ohio — Honda will build a new $3 billion auto plant in Union County, central Ohio, creating more than 2,000 jobs, the company and Ohio officials announced on Monday, November 9. The plant will sit on land between Honda's existing Marysville and East Liberty auto plants and is expected to begin production in 2029, pending final government approvals.
Source: Reuters
Counting the related work announced the same day at the Anna Engine Plant and at Honda Transmission Plant-Ohio in Russells Point, Honda's total new commitment in Ohio comes to 2,390 jobs and $3.38 billion, according to JobsOhio, the state's private economic development corporation. The new plant alone accounts for about $3 billion of that total and more than 2,000 of the jobs.
What the new plant will build
The plant will have a planned capacity of 240,000 vehicles a year and lines built to switch between hybrid, gasoline-powered and battery-electric vehicles, Honda said. It will be Honda's fourth auto plant in Ohio and its ninth auto-related production facility in the United States, and the company says it will be one of its most advanced plants in the world, with leading-edge automation and flexible production systems.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine joined leaders from Honda, JobsOhio, One Columbus and Union County for the announcement in Marysville. DeWine said Honda's leadership 'could have chosen to build this plant anywhere in the world, but they chose Ohio because there are so many advantages to being here,' and added: 'For almost half a century, Honda and Ohio have grown together, and generations of families have built their careers on Honda's manufacturing lines. Today's announcement isn't just an investment in a new facility — it's an investment in Ohio's people and Ohio's future.'
Bob Nelson, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc., said: 'Ohio and its workforce have laid the groundwork that has written some of the most impactful chapters in Honda's story of growth and innovation. This investment reflects our commitment to building products close to our customers, and our confidence in the people, partners and communities of Ohio.' JobsOhio President and CEO J.P. Nauseef called the plant 'Honda's first greenfield auto assembly facility of this scale in Ohio in more than 35 years.'
Engines, transmissions and the wider North American plan
The announcement reaches well beyond one factory. Honda Transmission Plant-Ohio in Russells Point is retooling to build two next-generation hybrid systems, a project Honda says will increase Ohio's hybrid system production capacity by 250 percent in the coming years and make the plant Honda's lead plant for a new hybrid system for larger models. The Anna Engine Plant — described in the reporting as the largest Honda engine plant in the world — is retooling a line to build a next-generation four-cylinder engine and expanding a parts consolidation center on site.
Together with projects in Alabama, Georgia and Canada, the new plant lifts Honda's U.S. auto production capacity to about 1.3 million vehicles a year and its North American capacity to about 1.9 million, the company said. Reuters reported that Honda also plans another $338 million investment in Ohio and unspecified new investments in Georgia and Alabama, will invest in Alabama to build a new V6 hybrid engine, and is making a C$867 million (about $613.6 million) commitment to its Canadian operations, including C$166 million for its Alliston, Ontario, operations, maintaining a Canadian workforce of about 4,000. The Canadian government said it is investing C$313 million in the Alliston project.
Honda announced in May that it plans to add 15 new Honda and Acura hybrid models worldwide by 2030, with North America the primary market for many of them. Reuters reported the company has also scrapped electric-vehicle sales goals and indefinitely suspended an $11 billion Canada EV project as part of a $9 billion EV writedown — a pivot that makes flexible plants able to build hybrids, gasoline vehicles and EVs on the same lines central to its strategy.
Background: nearly 50 years of Honda in Ohio
Honda announced its first Ohio plant in 1977 and began building motorcycles in Marysville in 1979 with 64 associates. In 1982, the Marysville Auto Plant built the first Japanese-brand car made in the United States. Ohio operations have since grown to more than 15,000 associates and more than $15 billion in investment, according to JobsOhio. Ohio ranks first in the nation in engine production and second in transmissions, and about 100,000 Ohioans work in the auto industry. Honda buys parts from more than 750 suppliers across North America, many of them in Ohio communities.
Honda said it picked Ohio for its workforce, for the concentration of suppliers nearby, for its vehicle development operations next door — including the North American Automotive Development Center and the Transportation Research Center — and for the L-H Battery Company joint venture plant in Fayette County, which will be able to produce battery cells for both hybrid and all-electric vehicles. The announcement also lands as foreign automakers announce major new U.S. investments while facing tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump's administration; Reuters noted Audi's planned $4 billion plant near Macon, Georgia, and Toyota's $3.6 billion San Antonio truck expansion as recent examples.
What happens next — and what is not yet public
The Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved a tax credit for the project on Monday morning, but neither Honda nor JobsOhio said what that credit is worth. Honda also plans to pursue assistance from JobsOhio, and that package will not be made public until after a final agreement is signed, according to the JobsOhio announcement. Construction cannot start until government approvals are in hand, and production is expected to begin in 2029. One question the announcement did not answer is organized labour: Honda's Ohio operations are not unionized, the United Auto Workers has had Honda on its organizing target list since 2023, and the union issued no public statement on Monday, according to the local reporting. For families in Union County and across central Ohio — including Punjabi and other immigrant workers in Ohio's factories, warehouses and trucking corridors who follow plant openings closely for jobs and freight work — the practical next steps are the final approvals, the signing of the JobsOhio agreement, and the hiring timelines Honda publishes as construction approaches.