Production of the Acura MDX luxury SUV was bolstered when the East Liberty Auto Plant (ELP) in Ohio began producing the award winning Acura vehicle, the second U.S. plant to build America’s best-selling luxury SUV of all time. ELP joins Honda Manufacturing of Alabama in Lincoln, Alabama in producing the MDX.
With the addition of MDX production at ELP, five of Acura’s six products are now built in Ohio. The MDX joins its stable mate, the award-winning RDX sport-utility vehicle, at ELP, while associates at the Marysville Auto Plant build the TLX and ILX luxury sedans. The Acura NSX is also produced exclusively at the Performance Manufacturing Center in Marysville – the only supercar built in America.
ELP invested $85 million for the addition of new welding equipment, the extension of vehicle conveyors and other changes required to support production of the MDX, and will assume sole production of the MDX this fall. This will enable the Alabama plant to increase production of the Honda Pilot, helping both the Acura and Honda brands meet increased customer demand for their respective light truck models.
The refreshed and restyled 2017 Acura MDX introduced last year, raised its game with bold new exterior styling, larger wheel and tire options and an expanded complement of premium features and technologies, including the AcuraWatch™ suite of advanced safety and driver-assistive technologies, now offered as standard equipment on all 2017 MDX models, a first in the luxury SUV segment.
ELP also produces the best-selling SUV in America, the Honda CR-V, and served as the global lead plant in several key areas for the recent launch of the all-new 2017 CR-V.
The plant employs 2,350 associates and has the annual capacity to manufacture 240,000 passenger cars and light trucks.
Published in the August 2017 Edition of American Recycler News
