[UPDATE: A report from the Toronto Star says Honda has confirmed its production in Alliston, Ont., will "operate at full capacity for the foreseeable future" and it has no plans to shift production to the U.S. to avoid tariffs.]
Some Honda vehicles produced in Alliston, Ontario, may soon be produced in the United States, as the automaker reacts to the ongoing tariff war.
Honda currently produces Civics and CR-Vs in both Canada and the U.S. These vehicles are sold both domestically and internationally, but reciprocal levies could mean that the automaker will work to shuffle production so that more vehicles are sold in the country where they are produced, reports Japanese news outlet, Nikkei.
AutoTrader has reached out to Honda Canada for comment but has yet to receive a response.
Honda currently sells around 1.4 million vehicles in America, roughly 300,000 of which are produced in Canada while others, like the HR-V, are built in Mexico. As it stands, it is estimated that the automaker will lose around $4.5 billion per year due to incoming tariffs.
As a result, Honda is reportedly looking to produce 90 per cent of the vehicles it sells in the U.S. domestically, up from around 70 per cent. That will mean shifting the production of some Civics and CR-Vs away from the automaker’s Alliston plant. Since it already produces these vehicles in the U.S., ramping up production of these vehicles should be simpler than starting production of the HR-V, North American market versions of which are exclusively produced in Mexico at time of writing. However, it is also reportedly looking to shift production of the HR-V to America.
The possible impacts of this move are yet to be fully understood, but the Alliston plant might not lose production exclusively. In response to Ottawa’s retaliatory tariffs against the U.S., Honda will reportedly work to increase the proportion of domestically produced vehicles it sells in Canada.
Separately, Honda recently affirmed that it will continue progress on its Alliston plant expansion, reports The Alliston Herald. The new facilities are set to produce electric vehicles and the batteries that power them starting in 2028.
