Where Are Honda HR-Vs Made? (Solved & Explained)

In automotive circles, the Honda HR-V is considered the “small SUV for the masses”.

This is due to its affordable price tag, fuel efficiency, and good cargo storage.

Before buying, you may want to know where the Honda HR-V comes from.

Where are Honda HR-Vs made? Let’s find out!

Where Are Honda HR-Vs Being Made?

Honda builds most Honda HR-V cars at plants spread across the Americas, Asia, and Africa. In South America, Honda makes the HR-V at Campana, Argentina; Sumare, Brazil. In North America, HR-V manufacturing takes place at the Honda plant in Celaya, Mexico.

For Asia, Honda manufactures the HR-V at factories in China (Guangzhou and Wuhan), Indonesia (Karawang), Malaysia (Alor Gajah), and Thailand (Ayutthaya).

Other Asian production locations for the HR-V include Yorii, Japan and Pingtung, Taiwan.

Honda also makes the HR-V models in Africa at its plant in Lagos, Nigeria.

Read on about common Honda HRV problems here. 

Are HR-Vs for the U.S. Market Produced in the U.S.?

Honda doesn’t make HR-V models sold on the American market in the U.S. Rather, it builds them at its factory in Celaya, Mexico and imports them into the U.S.

The HR-V is one of the few vehicles Honda imports into the U.S. — most Honda models sold to Americans are made in the U.S.

Are They Being Assembled in the U.S.?

As explained earlier, Honda neither manufactures nor assembles the HR-V in the US.

Unlike other Honda models assembled in the US, HR-Vs are assembled in neighboring Mexico.

After assembling HR-V models at the Celaya, Mexico, Honda finally exports them for sale on the US market.

Look-through our article which explains about Honda HR-V & Keys

How Can You Check Where a Specific HR-V Was Produced?

A reliable way of identifying where Honda manufactured a particular HR-V model is to check the vehicle’s release year.

There are two generations of the HR-V; the first extends from 1998 to 2006, while the second extends from 2013 to present.

Honda manufactured the first-generation HR-V solely at Suzuka, Japan.

However, the Japanese automaker extended production of the HR-V to various locations including Mexico, Thailand, and Malaysia, among others for the second generation.

Thus, you’ll know that a HR-V comes from Japan if it’s a first-generation model.

It is more difficult to know the production location of a second-generation HR-V, given the multiplicity of production locations. Thankfully, the VIN will help in this regard.

The Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) is a unique 17-character code that is present on your car’s metal dashboard.

On any vehicle, the first character of the VIN code shows its production location.

On vehicles produced in Asia (China, Japan, etc.), the first VIN character is usually a letter of the alphabet.

For example, cars made in Japan have ‘J’ as the first character in the VIN.

Vehicles made in the Americas have numbers for initial VIN characters.

For example, a HR-V from Mexico will have ‘3’ as its first VIN character. Similarly, an HR-V from Brazil will have ‘8’ as its first VIN character.

Please read our article about how long the Honda HR-V lasts.

Are Japanese or European Built HR-V Better?

Although Honda makes the HR-V in Japan, it doesn’t do the same in Europe. As such, we cannot make a comparison of HR-V made in Japan and Europe.

Where Is the HR-V Designed?¨

Honda designs the HR-V at various design studios across the world.

For the Americas, Honda designs its vehicles at Torrance, California. It also designs vehicles in Japan (Asia) at its R&D facility in Saitama, Japan.

Where Are HR-Vs Made for the Australia Market?

Honda makes Honda HR-Vs for the Australia market at its factory in Ayutthaya, Thailand. It is from there Honda exports the models to Australia for sale.

Where Are HR-Vs Made for the Canada Market?

Honda manufactures HR-V models at Celaya, Mexico before exporting them to Canada for sale.

The plant in Mexico handles HR-V production for the entire North American region.

Make sure to read our article about driving the Honda HR-V in snow and winter.

Where Are HR-Vs Made for the UK Market?

Unlike the Civic and CR-V produced in the UK, the HR-V is built in Mexico.

This should hardly be a problem, since Honda maintains the same quality standards across its factories.

Is Honda Planning to Move Its Production?

We have seen no reports of Honda moving production of the HR-V.

The last time Honda did so was in 2019 when it moved HR-V manufacturing from Guadalajara to Celaya in Mexico.

Is Honda Hiring or Firing in the U.S.?

Like other car manufacturers, Honda laid off workers temporarily in the wake of crashing sales.

Asides this, Honda has conducted no massive layoffs in the US.

Based on our research, Honda is indeed hiring at some of its plants in the US.

Examples include the Honda plant in Marysville, Ohio (Contact Center Team Leader) and in Lincoln, Alabama (Equipment Service Associate).

You can see more of these jobs at Indeed.com or Glassdoor.

Also check our article about how long the Honda C-HR lasts.

Is Honda an American Company?

Honda is a Japanese-owned company that operates in the United States of America.

While it’s a foreign company, it has strong roots in the US. For example, it is one of the first Japanese automakers to build cars in the US.

Honda also makes over 70% of its models sold in the US in the country.

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