Honda’s Celaya plant out of action until mid-November
 

Damage caused by the flooding of Honda’s car assembly and engine plant in Celaya, Mexico, which happened at the end of June this year, has forced the carmaker to suspend production there until November. The company said that expert teams had completed an investigation of the damage to the tooling and equipment at the plant and repairs would take until then.

Celaya is the only Honda plant making the Fit, meaning no Fit models will be made until mid-November

“Our commitment is always to provide our customers with high quality products and production will not resume in Celaya until we can ensure the highest levels of quality for all parts and products,” said the company in a statement.

Celaya is currently the only plant making the Honda Fit, which means there will be four and half month shortfall in production of that model. Vehicle and component production was stopped at Celaya on June 28. The Celaya plant also makes the HR-V but that vehicle is also being supplied from Honda’s Guadalajara plant in Mexico.

In terms of part production, Celaya was also providing a transmission component for the Honda Insight made at the US plant in Indiana. While Indiana had enough inventory of that component to see it through July, production of that vehicle will be suspended through August, though a spokesperson for Honda North America said that production would begin in September despite the longer shutdown at Celaya because Honda could source the parts from its global manufacturing network, though it would not specify where.

Celaya has an annual production capacity of 200,000 cars and 350,000 transmissions. Honda opened the $800m plant in 2014. Volumes out of the plant are aimed at both the Mexican and US markets, with flexibility built into transport routes north, including rail and ocean.

https://automotivelogistics.media/ne...jemlogistics_h

I bet Honda would undue the decision to open that plant if they had a time machine.

I don't agree...
 

While the Celaya plant certainly seems cursed in terms of setbacks and issues since it's start up. I in no way think expanding your manufacturing to a new plant in Mexico, supporting North American supply is in any way a mistake. It simply isn't.
Honda will work it out. The plant will reopen. And it's production will make Honda a stronger company.

I don't know if it's related (I think it is), but Honda has slipped to #9 in reliability and Acura has slipped to 17. Not good! Meanwhile Kia and Hyundai are now above Honda.

Look at this list and you'll find that the cars ranked higher than Honda are not manufactured in Mexico.
https://www.businessinsider.com/most...18-2#3-buick-3

It's only circumstantial evidence, but it's interesting to see the Korean's gaining reliability (and opening US plants) at the same time Honda is loosing reliability and opening plants in Mexico.

No so sure about the last Gen Civic being a bad car. My sister had one that she put 240,000 miles on without a failure. Just routine maintenance & replacing normal wear items. She bought another Civic & I expect it will be just as good.

I'd rather Honda built the Fit & HRV in the US, but I don't see Mexico being the problem. Wish they'd drop that 1.5 turbo in the HRV.

Whether Honda needs to double down on a renewed commitment to quality is a different debate and issue.
My point being opening another production plant in Mexico is not a bad idea, or bad thing for Honda. North American production, in North America, helps Honda stay competitive with Toyota, KIA, Hyundai.

I also personally believe that good quality products can be built anywhere. Plants can have issues, start up problems, and quality control challenges, but that all can be overcome. I don't default to "Mexico" as being a bad place for a vehicle to be built.
I fully expect the plant to reopen. And I would expect Honda will produce quality vehicles from that site.

It's really not working out well for them so far.

Where is the new Insight built? (=Civic Hybrid cough cough)

Only Honda I would consider today is the Accord. Or anything screwed together in Japan. Shifting mental loyalty to Subaru. Lower end Hondas are too small for me, the big trucks far too boring, Acura hasn't had any excitement in years and generally quality has ticked down. Civic Type R is an engineering beast but complete overkill for me.

Ken - I'm not saying her car was a fun ride, it wasn't. It was a transportation appliance nothing more nothing less. For my sister it was a great car. Cars are nothing more than an appliance for her as they are for many thousands of other people. That is who Honda built that car for. It was not meant to be an enthusiast car just a transport pod.

If I want an enthusiast car I won't be shopping Honda's. Yes the Si & CTR are there, but I'm not into their Atomic Tokyo styling especially on the CTR.

ash i agree with da above. :nod: Si was meh to me when i tried it last month. i mean dealer even let me drive a lightly used 2017 one hard.. like tire squealing launches and at the limit turns and all.. it wasnt bad but has no soul.. and slow when pushed. CTR shouldve come SH-AWD for street and with less faux vents.

Has anyone heard if the 2019 Fit production will be moved to Japan or will they simply just deal with a shortage until November?

if they dont want to run out of inventory they'll most likely have to bring in from another plant. but considering how slow the sales have been for this car in the americas (only car dat is selling well in the segment is da kia soul), they might just decide to run dry for a few months and wait till the plant is ready to resume. honda can make the HRV's at their other mexico factory which are a much bigger hit anyways and can probably satisfy a typical GK buyer for those few months.

I'm not sure there's that huge of a demand on Fits to really need a production shift. Murica likes its crossovers.

Alright, I'm a little late to this thread but I must say this... The 9th gen of the Civic was initially a disappointment by Honda's standards.

The president at the time was trying to nickel and dime as much as possible on that gen of Civic (along with other models in that time frame) to drive up gross profits. Sure, drivetrain was left to Honda's typical standards BUT fitment and materials were a bit... lacking so to speak. If it wasn't for the consumers and 3rd party reviews complaining about how bland the 2012 Civic was, we likely would not have gotten as many improvements and standard features that later came with that gen of Civic. And with that said, it was the one for handful of Honda models that I've seen in recent years to get multiple updates on almost a yearly basis.

2013s got rear view cameras as standard across the entire range, revised suspension in terms of spring and dampening rates.

2014 and 2015s got indirect TPMS, smart key, and CVT transmissions.

Another tenancy that Honda has is that they are cautious about releasing new vehicles unless they see a fair chance of being able to compete with their product in that particular market segment. Like the Fit for example, we got it April 20th, 2006 state side... Despite being sold in Asia and Europe markets several years before this. While on the other hand, Toyota has been selling Scion xAs and xBs since about 2002 in the states and was killing it in the small economy car segment here in the states as well as just released the tC around time to further push the brand. Honda releases the Fit in North America as a late comer, still does well.

Another example: The CR-Z. Small, fuel efficient hybrid "sports" car which was sought out to be the new "CR-X". While the car is GOOD for what it is, it was left in the shadow of larger and more practical Prius while trying to fit in its predecessor's shoes (the CR-X). The problem that in my opinion burned Honda on the CR-Z was not the fact solely that the car was a hybrid... BUT how the car was promoted. If you approach a CR-Z thinking that it is a modern day CR-X SI, you will be disappointed. If you see the car as what it honestly is, a modern CR-X HF, then things are bit more understandable. Honda even tried to acknowledge and spice up the CR-Z with Mugen and HPD parts including but not limited to suspension, exhaust, areo, 4 piston caliper with 300mm discs and a Rotrex supercharger that kept the 5 year/60k powertrain warranty intact. BUT that attempt was too little to late and the CR-Z ended as a 2016 model year.

As for the HR-V... To be honest, I wish Honda did put the L15B7 in as well instead of the dated R18 that it currently has... Even the hybrid model with the 7 speed dual clutch transmission would have a been a better choice than the R18. AWD & manual would be an nice combination as well but didn't happen... In fact, HR-Vs no longer have a manual option for the 2019 model year at all as a part of their midcycle update.

While the flooding is indeed unfortunate, I feel that it will give Honda a better chance at identifying and improving quality control and consistency from that plant. There were a lot of initial mistakes when the GK5 began production at that plant, mostly vehicles built prior to June or July that initial year. Vehicles getting non-side airbag compliant A pillars, front bumper beams needing to be replaced due to a new frontal overlap test, and one or two more recalled items on early, 2015 GK5s... It all eventually got squared away with time though.

As far as keeping up with demand, Honda has ramped up Fit production in Japan to help compensate for having the Celaya plant focus on the HR-V when they initially came out for the 2016 model year. If push comes to shove, I'm sure they'll do it again.

hootie- yah, i think it was kind of a blessing for honda to stop their shitty production culture at dis plant to reset everything. hopefully they can use this opportunity to turn things around as u mentioned to build QUALITY products. :nod: