Honda Will Shift Some Civic Car Production from U.S. to Japan

Honda Motor Co. plans to free up capacity in North America for popular SUV/crossovers by moving some local Civic car production back to Japan in the second half of 2017, The Nikkei says.

The report suggests Honda intends to make about 150,000 Civics over three years at its factory in Saitama Prefecture. Some will be shipped to North America.

The move also will support the relaunch of the Civic in Japan. Honda dropped the model in its home market six years ago. But the redesigned Civic is selling well in North America, prompting Honda to revive the marque at home, according to The Nikkei.

The reassigned production will help Honda better proportion its North American production of cars and trucks to local demand. Currently the company’s manufacturing mix in the region is equally split between the two categories of vehicles, even though trucks now account for about 60% of the U.S. market.