You are probably aware of the fact that Honda has prepared a new lower, wider, and sleeker Odyssey for 2018, but what you probably haven’t known is that the company just started the mass minivan production in their Alabama plant. This actually comes in good time because the new vehicle is supposed to go on sale this spring. At the Alabama facility, everyone is enthusiastic about commencing work, and that is why over 1.500 employees welcomed the latest Honda minivan off the line.
Jeff Tomko, president of HMA, gave a statement regarding this and he said: “This is a celebration for our entire Honda team of associates who have been committed to bringing an all-new, high tech, family-friendly Odyssey to our customers.” He also added, “I congratulate all of our associates for their commitment to quality for this new vehicle, which ushers in a new level of features and functionality with the goal of creating new value for our customers.”
Besides the all-new Odyssey, the new Honda Pilot, Ridgeline, and Acura MDX will all be assembled at the same plant together with the V6 engines that will go under their hoods. As you already know the company’s new minivan will be offered with a 3.5 L V6 units that will be able to produce 280 HP, and if you didn’t know this powerplant offers 32 HP increase from the last version which is also a good thing.
The V6 unit will be attached to the all new 10-speed automatic transmission for more refined performance, at least according to Honda. The transmission will not be assembled in Alabama plant but its good to know that they sourced it locally and it will be produced in Honda Precision Parts in Tallapoosa, Georgia.
Just a reminder, especially to those who didn’t follow our previous articles, the new minivan from Japanese carmaker will come equipped with reconfigurable Magic Slide Seats, CabinWatch and CabinTalk monitors that will help you watch on the second and third-row passengers, and a Cabin Control App to access system functions from your smartphone. Since Honda has not announced the prices of the new Odyssey, we can only tell you that it should start at $29,850 (base price of the last year’s model) and will go up depending on the options you choose to add to the already well-balanced list.
Just an FYI – the Lincoln, Alabama plant has seen over 4 million vehicles and V6 engines leave it to date, and that is of course according to what company states. Truly impressive!
