Honda announced this week that it will build its new Passport sport utility vehicle at its Alabama assembly plant in Lincoln.
The automaker gave a bird’s-eye look at the SUV doing some off-road runs with a teaser video and plans to unveil a closer look on its YouTube channel on Nov. 27 in advance of the Los Angeles Auto Show .
“The new Passport is a more personal, powerful and off-road-capable SUV that hits the sweet spot between daily driving comfort and weekend off-road, all-weather adventure capability,” said Henio Arcangeli Jr., senior vice president of American Honda Motor Co. Inc. and general manager of Honda Division. “With customer demand for SUVs continuing to grow, the new adventure-ready Passport is going to further solidify our lineup, attracting new buyers and keeping existing customers in the Honda family.”
The new Passport, which goes on sale early next year, will join the Pilot SUV, Odyssey minivan and Ridgeline pickup on the Honda Manufacturing of Alabama assembly line in Lincoln. The Passport falls between the CR-V and the Pilot in Honda’s SUV family.
The 2019 Passport was designed and developed in the U.S. by Honda R&D Americas. The vehicle will be revealed via livestream on Honda’s YouTube channel starting at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 27.
Honda brand light-truck sales are on track for a fourth-straight record year, on the way to top 700,000 units for the third year in a row and accounting for more than half of the Honda brand’s U.S. sales so far this year. Light-truck sales are up 5.3 percent from year-ago results.
Honda was named America’s “Best SUV Brand” by U.S. News and World Report in 2018, for the second straight year. Honda’s Odyssey, Pilot and Ridgeline recently took three of the top 10 spots in Cars.com’s 2018 American-Made Index.
(Courtesy of Alabama NewsCenter)
