Honda Plans to Double Ohio R&D; Facilities

The growing trend among Japanese companies to shift engineering and other technical work from Japan to the United States received another big boost Wednesday, when Honda Motor Co. said it will nearly double the size of its research and development facilities in Marysville, Ohio.

Honda, which already employs nearly 10,000 American workers at its manufacturing and assembly plants scattered around central Ohio, said it will spend $27 million to expand its engineering and research offices in Marysville.

The new facilities will increase Honda’s ability to develop new cars in the United States, with only limited input from the company’s engineers in Japan.

Already, Honda engineers working in this country have developed the Accord coupe, which is now built exclusively in the United States. And engineers in Marysville are just completing work on the engineering for the new Accord station wagon, which will go into production in Ohio next fall.

In a sense, that wagon will be Honda’s first all-American car: It was designed in California, and virtually all of the engineering and product development work for it has been handled in Ohio. When it goes into production next fall, it will be built exclusively in the United States, for sale both here and in export markets.

The development of other vehicles in Ohio, where Honda has also purchased a large transportation testing center and test track from the state, is likely to follow.

“This expansion continues Honda’s strategy to become a self-reliant motor vehicle company in the United States,” said Masaru Otabe, president of Honda R&D; North America.

Honda said it expects its American research and development staff, including those in Ohio and at its design studios in Torrance, to reach a total of about 500 over the next few years. Honda now has about 300 R&D; staffers in Ohio and Southern California; most of the expansion will come in Ohio, said Honda spokesman Jeff Leestma.

Other Japanese auto makers have also expanded their engineering capabilities in this country. Initially, many Japanese firms sent engineers here primarily to evaluate potential American suppliers and sources of raw materials and parts but, more recently, at least some have sought to engineer and develop new products here as well.

Nissan, for instance, now has a large research and development center in suburban Detroit, where its engineers are developing a new minivan to be built and sold through a joint venture with Ford.