The all-new 2013 Honda Accord goes into production in Marysville, Ohio on Monday, August 20; and will have as its powertrain Honda's new "Earth Dreams" series, which began mass production on Thursday, August 16.
The series includes a four-cylinder direct injection engine paired with a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT), and a V-6 engine with a six-speed automatic transmission, all of which are new.
The CVT is the result of a $220-million investment by Honda, $120 million of which was for Honda Transmission Manufacturing of America for the new CVT line, while the other $100 million is for the Anna Engine Plant for the production of the CVT's high-tech pulley components that start production next year.
Honda says that the CVT series will create 150 jobs at the two plants, located in Marysville and Anna, Ohio.
The Honda Transmission plant has received a new automated assembly line that necessitated a 200,000-square-foot expansion of the plant. The assembly line and alterations accounted for $70 million of the money. The remaining $50 million goes toward a 75,000-square-foot addition to the plant for additional aluminum casting operations.
The Anna Engine Plant is undergoing renovations to devote 84,000-square-feet of space to the production of the CVT pulley components, which requires lathing, heat-treating, grinding and subassembly operations. Production of the pulleys will transfer from Japan next year.
"Our continuing investments in Ohio illustrate how we intend to meet the needs of our global customers by implementing advanced technologies in our production operations and in our products," Gary Hand, plant manager of Honda Transmission, said in a statement. "Our associates are looking forward to delivering best quality as we launch these new CVTs and six-speed automatic transmissions."
After they've been assembled at Honda Transmission, the CVTs and transmissions are sent to Anna Engine, where they are joined to the engines. Then the powertrain components are shipped to the Marysville Auto Plant where they are installed in the Accords.
The Anna Engine Plant has the capacity to manufacture 1.18 million V-6 and four-cylinder engines annually, making it the largest automobile engine factory throughout Honda's global operations.
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