Honda is weighing an eighth assembly plant across North America as its seven current facilities approach their production ceiling of 1.67 million vehicles annually.
Company boss Toshihiro Mibe says the move would deepen the automaker's local commitment and provide a buffer for future growth.
Speaking with Japanese publication Yomiuri Shimbun, Mibe noted that Honda's plants in Canada, the US, and Mexico are running near full capacity.
"It's almost in full production," he said. "If you don't have a buffer, you can't recover production."
North America Drives Over 40% of Global Sales
North America now accounts for more than 40 percent of Honda's global sales, and Mibe wants to "build up quite a bit" of sales across the region.
American Honda is targeting more than 9 percent US market share in 2026 and expects to outperform the industry.
According to GlobalData, Honda's US factories in Ohio, Indiana, and Alabama run at 85 percent of their combined 1.2 million-vehicle capacity.
The overall North American utilization rate sits around 90 percent of a maximum 1.8 million units, reports Autonews.
Ongoing tariffs have made it difficult for the company to turn a profit in the United States, Mibe said, adding that the best way forward "is to produce where there is demand."
A Honda spokesperson told Auto News: "The possibility of a capacity increase is always a consideration for the future growth of our automobile business in North America.
However, no decisions have been made regarding a new U. S.
plant."
EV Reversal and Future Plans
Honda's commitment to North America comes despite its costly decision earlier this year to scrap its 0 Series of EVs and end its joint venture with Sony to launch the Afeela brand.
Mibe says canceling the development of these new models was "right overall" and that the company will "try to incorporate the findings" made through the Sony partnership into future Honda products.
Two months ago, Honda also walked back plans for a $15 billion EV and battery production hub in Ontario, Canada.
Despite retreating from many EV plans, Honda isn't abandoning the technology entirely. The company is working on a flexible new architecture that will support both hybrids and EVs.
Several next-generation hybrid models are planned, and Honda intends to shift much of its Ohio capacity toward gasoline and hybrid production.
Included in the future plans for North America is a large hybrid SUV, expected to launch in 2029.
