FIRST - Japanese Car Built in the U.S. - Marysville, OH
Posted by: 
Mr. 0
N 40° 16.544 W 083° 30.821
17T E 286286 N 4461393
Quick Description: The Honda manufacturing plant was the first Japanese manufacturing plant to be built in the United States.
Location: Ohio, United States
Date Posted: 1/23/2008 5:22:57 PM
Waymark Code: WM3164
Views: 114
Long Description:It all started in 1979. Honda had built a motorcycle manufacturing
plant on the outskirts of Marysville, Ohio, a small rural
community. The first vehicle produced here was a red CR 250 dirt
bike. Since then the plant, and community have grown quickly,
leading the way to many other foreign automakers to move operations
to the U.S.
Another major milestone for Honda's Marysville plant was its
expansion to begin producing automobiles. On November 1, 1982, the
first Japanese car rolled off a U.S. assembly line here in
Marysville. It was a four-door Honda Accord which was given a
special license plate of "USA 001."
Currently the motorcycle and car lines are still here, along
with extensive R&D offices, including a test track, engine and
transmission plants, and even a soybean processing plant. Some of
the models made here are the Gold Wing motorcycle, the Element SUV,
and the Accord sedan. There are roughly 16,000 people employed at
the Honda facility.
A link to an article about this first can be found at
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/01/auto.main/index.html#cnnSTCText>Cnn.com.
Because of their way of building their facilities, it's hard to
get a picture of the plant. They have always tried to have as
little impact on the environment as possible, which includes
landscaping to hide the plant. It is surrounded by hills and trees
to obscure it from the surrounding highways. If you pull up to one
of the gates, and speak with the security officer they're usually
ok with you taking a quick photo.