As part of its efforts to advance electrification through products and a hybrid-electric system built in North America, Honda today announced that it will launch the Civic hybrid in the United States and Canada in 2024. The Civic will be available in sedan and hatchback versions.
The new Civic hybrid sedan will go into production at Honda of Canada Manufacturing (HCM) in Alliston, Ontario, in the spring of 2024. The hatchback will soon follow, produced at the Indiana Auto Plant (IAP) in Greensburg, Indiana, with the 2.0-liter Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder engine made at the Anna Engine Plant in Ohio and the two-motor hybrid-electric power unit to be built by the Honda Transmission Plant in Ohio. The Honda CR-V hybrid is already supported in production by HCM and IAP.
“Our associates are proud to play an important role in the Honda electrification strategy by adding production of the new Civic hybrid to the CR-V hybrid we now build,” said Roxanna Metz, plant co-lead of the Indiana Auto Plant. “Sales of Honda hybrid models already represent more than one-quarter of our sales in the U.S. and we are proud to help our customers transition to the electrified future with our ‘made in Indiana’ products.”
Another important development in Honda’s electrification strategy is the addition of hybrid-electric features to its basic models, such as the new Civic hybrid. Currently, hybrid-electric trims account for more than 56% of Honda CR-V and Accord sales in the United States. The number of electrified Honda models sold in the United States exceeds 25%, which is a record for the brand’s hybrid sales. Honda anticipates that sales of Civic hybrids will account for over 40% of total Civic sales.
Honda aims to achieve 100% of its new vehicle sales from battery-electric and fuel cell electric vehicles by 2040, in line with its global objective of becoming carbon neutral for all goods and corporate operations by 2050. The first all-electric SUV from Honda, the 2024 Honda Prologue, will go on sale that year.
A mid-to large-size EV vehicle built on Honda’s specialized e:Architecture will be available for purchase in 2025.
Important next steps for Honda’s EV Hub in Ohio, which will spearhead the company’s transition to EV production in North America, were announced. Honda declared in October 2022 that it will spend $700 million retooling many of its current auto and powertrain plants in order to create the new EV Hub in Ohio and get ready to start producing battery-electric vehicles in 2025.
The first Honda vehicle plant in the United States to switch to electric vehicle production will be the Marysville Auto Plant (MAP), where the company started manufacturing cars in 1982.
A new joint venture EV battery plant being developed in Fayette County, close to Jeffersonville, Ohio, by Honda and LG Energy Solution is part of the new EV Hub. The new JV facility is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2024 with an annual production capacity of roughly 40 GWh.
