The latest SUVs making a smooth ride down the assembly lines of Honda Alabama Auto Plant in Lincoln are designed for more rugged destinations once they leave the plant and the showroom floors.

The all-new, 2026 Passport and Passport TrailSport SUVs officially kicked off production at the Honda plant on Feb. 28. Honda officials and the more than 4,500 workers at the plant celebrated the kickoff.

Honda is calling the new Passport its “most off-road capable” SUV ever and the Passport TrailSport Honda’s “ultimate adventure vehicle.”

“Honda associates in Alabama worked with ingenuity and determination to bring to market the most rugged Honda SUV ever for our customers, the all-new 2026 Honda Passport,” said Lamar Whitaker, plant leader of the Honda Alabama Auto Plant.

The new vehicles are built exclusively in Alabama.

The 2026 Passport comes in three primary trim levels – RTL, TrailSport and TrailSport Elite – built on the Honda light truck architecture first applied two years ago to the new Honda Pilot, an extremely rigid platform that was engineered for off-road capabilities. Pricing begins with the Passport RTL with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $44,750 (excluding $1,450 destination charge).

“The deep collaboration of the Honda R&D, manufacturing and purchasing teams enabled us to create a high-quality Honda Passport that also will be easier for our associates to build,” said Mike Smith, senior staff engineer at the Honda Alabama Auto Plant and the Engineering Project leader for Passport.

Honda employees had to implement new production technologies and processes for the new models.

In addition to the Passport models, the Honda Alabama Auto Plant produces the Pilot SUV, Odyssey minivan, and Ridgeline pickup with an annual capacity to produce more than 350,000 vehicles and V6 engines. It has produced more than 6.5 million vehicles since production began in 2001.

Courtesy of Alabama News Center