Indiana Auto Plant (IAP) celebrates its 5th anniversary of mass production today.
On October 9, 2008, Honda began producing1 the fuel-efficient, 4-cylinder Honda Civic Sedan with 1,000 associates and one shift. Today, IAP’s two-shift operation features more than 2,000 Hoosiers producing not only the Civic Sedan, but also the Honda Civic Natural Gas, the Acura ILX, Acura ILX Hybrid and the Civic Hybrid. IAP boasts one of the most diverse lineups of advanced environmental vehicles of any plant in North America.
IAP’s brief manufacturing history has been filled with milestones and accomplishments spurred by products that reach not only across North America, but around the globe.
Announced in June 2006, Honda broke ground on this state-of-the-art facility in March 2007, making it Honda’s fourth U.S. auto plant, and its seventh in North America. Production of the natural-gas powered Civic was added in May 2009, and production of Civics for export markets began in September 2009. In February 2010, IAP celebrated production of its 100,000th Civic. Today, more than 650,000 vehicles have rolled off the production line.
Remarkably, after little more than two years of mass production, IAP earned the Platinum Plant award in the 2011 J. D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study (IQS). IAP was one of only three plants around the world to win the highest quality honor to be bestowed on an auto manufacturing plant.
The plant doubled its production to 200,000 vehicles a year when it added a second shift of production in October 2011. The following spring, the plant began production of the Acura ILX and ILX Hybrid sedans, the first Honda or Acura hybrid models to be produced in North America. This year, IAP began production of the Civic Hybrid and increased production by 50,000 units, raising the plant’s capacity to 250,000 vehicles per year. In addition, Honda invested $40 million and added 300 new jobs.
“Our team in Indiana has accomplished an incredible amount of success in just five short years, and we have overcome many challenges in doing so,” said IAP President Bob Nelson. “We could not have accomplished any of this without the strong support we have received from our local communities and the great state of Indiana. We are excited about the future here in Greensburg, not only because our global customers embrace the products we make here, but also because Indiana has become our home.”
IAP also spends more than $2.3 billion each year with more than 50 Tier 1 suppliers located in Indiana.
The Greensburg facility also reflects Honda’s commitment to creating harmony between manufacturing and the environment. IAP is Honda’s third U.S. plant designed as a zero waste-to-landfill facility and has installed 12 solar panels that were manufactured by Honda Soltec in Japan. IAP’s Welcome Center building has been designated as LEED certified from the Green Building Certification Institute. LEED stands for leadership in energy and environmental design.
IAP has also earned EPA’s Energy Star certification. The Indiana plant was one of three Honda plants to receive this certification for 2012. This certification signifies that the plant performs in the top 25 percent of similar facilities nationwide for energy efficiency.