Honda Will Build Acura NSX In Central Ohio

One of this region’s largest employers is expanding. Honda first came to central Ohio when it opened the Marysville Motorcycle Plant in 1979, and has since added auto and parts factories in Marysville, East Liberty, Anna, and Russell's Point. Executives used the Detroit Auto Show as a backdrop to announce they’re reviving the Acura NSX, a sleek sports car previously built in Japan before production was canceled in 2005 because of poor sales. Honda spokesman Ron Lietzke says they’ve improved the NSX design since then, and supply-line improvements will finally allow U.S. production. "This is really a culmination of our capabilities here in the United States to develop that kind of a vehicle, just as we’ve been developing the Acura MDX, the Odessey, and other products that are produced here in the United States and North America," Lietzke says. Lietzke would not say exactly where the car will be built, but he says the company will build a new factory somewhere near their current operations outside Marysville with cars rolling off assembly lines in about three years. That’s good news for Eric Phillips. He’s executive director of the Union County Economic Development Partnership. "Honda’s continued commitment and their investment in central Ohio means great things to come. Our partnership has been very close since they started in 1978, and we’re very appreciative of their continued commitment and their investment in our community," Phillips says. Honda has not said how many more jobs they’ll bring to the community. The company now employs some 13,000 people in the region.