American Honda President Tetsuo Iwamura and Jim Burrell join Tyrone Moore, Hide Iwata, Jeff Tomko and more 500 other Honda workers to commemorate the production of Honda’s 1 millionth U.S. export vehicle.
Honda has built a silver 2013 Honda Accord EX-L Sedan that will be shipped to South Korea – the 1 millionth Honda automobile to be exported from the U.S. The Accord is on its way to Port Hueneme in Southern California, and then across the Pacific Ocean to Seoul, South Korea, where the company recently began sales of its U.S.-made vehicles. The milestone occurred 25 years after the first U.S.-made Honda automobile was exported to overseas markets from its Marysville, Ohio plant – the first Japanese manufacturing facility in the U.S. that opened 30 years ago. Last year, Honda sold more than 1.3 million vehicles in North America.
Within two years, Honda said it will become a “net exporter” of automobiles from North America – exporting more vehicles built in its auto plants in North America than it imports from Japan – as U.S. production operations take on a larger responsibility for the introduction of global automobiles sold in multiple countries. The increase in exports is being forced in part by the strong Japanese Yen – ¥79:$1 – that makes importing to the U.S. unprofitable.
Since 1987, Japan’s third largest automaker said it has exported more than $22 billion worth of automobiles and components from the U.S. This includes its exports of finished vehicles as well as component parts sets from suppliers in the U.S. that are used to produce automobiles at Honda plants overseas.
Honda currently exports automobiles to more than 40 countries (It does not count shipments from the U.S. to Canada as exports), with total exports expected to reach nearly 100,000 Honda and Acura vehicles from the U.S. in 2012.
