Honda begins production of new 2016 Pilot SUV (Next Honda Ridgeline production begins early 2016)

A ceremony was held Thursday, May 21, 2015, at the Honda plant in Lincoln, Ala., to mark the start of production of the new Honda Pilot.

The Honda Pilot, a top-seller for the Japanese automaker for years, has been redesigned and will go on sale by mid-June.

by Brent Snavely of www.freep.com

Production of the long-awaited, redesigned Honda Pilot began Thursday at the Japanese automaker's plant in Lincoln, Ala.

The automaker expects that pent up demand for the new model and a new, more modern look for the popular three-row SUV will lead to a sales surge, enabling the company to sell about 120,000 annually, about an 11% increase over its sales in 2014.

"Candidly, we could not be more excited or confident in the capabilities of this new vehicle," said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda.

Mendel said the 2016 Honda Pilot will be on sale at dealerships by June 18. The Pilot will sell for $29,995 to $46,420, excluding destination charges.

The Pilot has been a top-seller for Honda for the past 13 years. The automaker has sold 1.4 million Pilots in North America since it was introduced in 2002, accounting for a quarter of the brand's light truck sales.

But the automaker hasn't redesigned the Pilot since 2008.
Mendel said the new Pilot is designed to appeal to two different sets of buyers.

"One is more family focused and the other is much more individual and adventure focused," Mendel said. "We've got trims targeted to appeal to both of those sets of buyers."

Mendel said the 2016 Pilot has a more spacious and family-friendly cabin, a more powerful and efficient new powertrain, and more advanced technology and premium features than ever before.

The Pilot is getting a new 3.5-liter direct injection V6 engine with cylinder deactivation technology.

The engine is the same as the one in the latest generations of the Honda Accord sedan and Acura MDX, but is tuned for the Pilot. There are also two new transmissions: A six-speed automatic for the lower trim levels and a 9-speed — a first for the Honda brand — for the more expensive versions.

Honda makes the Pilot at a 3.7-million-square-foot plant in Lincoln alongside the Honda Odyssey minivan, Ridgeline pickup and Acura MDX crossover.

The plant has an annual production capacity of about 360,000 vehicles.

Over the past three years Honda has invested more than $508 million to improve production at that plant to make its production process more flexible. The investments included $71 million in an engine production plant that can now make 1,500 V-6 engines per day.

Source;
http://www.freep.com/story/money/business/2015/05/21/honda-pilot-production-suv-crossover-lincoln-alabama/27704919/