Where Are Honda Pilots Made? (Solved & Explained)

The Honda Pilot sits atop Honda’s SUV collection, which includes the CR-V and the Passport.

It makes a sportier and better-looking alternative to a minivan and offers the same utility and comfort as the latter.

Where does Honda manufacture this vehicle? Find out in this article.

Where Are Honda Pilots Being Made?

Honda makes the Pilot at the Honda Manufacturing of Alabama (HMA) plant in Lincoln, Alabama in the United States of America. The automaker only started making the Pilot in the USA in 2007 shortly before redesigning the model for its second generation.

In the 2003-2007 generation, Honda produced the Pilot at the Honda Manufacturing of Canada (HMC), Alliston, Ontario in Canada.

Honda moved production of the Passport away from the Alliston, Ontario plant because it wanted to produce the Civic sedan there.

Here are some facts on our article about 11 Honda Pilot Statistics You Should Know

Are Pilots for the U.S. Market Produced in the U.S.?

Honda makes Pilot models sold on the American market at its plant in Lincoln, Alabama.

The Japanese automaker also manufactures major Pilot components, including engine and transmission in the USA.

The Honda Pilot ranked 13th out of 91 on the Cars.com 2020 American-made index. This shows just how committed Honda is to making the Pilot in the USA.

We also have a list here over how much each Honda Pilot can tow.

Are They Being Assembled in the U.S.?

Honda assembles the Pilot models sold to American buyers at the Lincoln, Alabama plant in the USA.

In the past, Honda used to assemble the Pilot at the Alliston, Ontario plant in Canada.

However, the need to increase production of the Civic made Honda move production of the Pilot elsewhere.

How Can You Check Where a Specific Pilot Was Produced?

You can know where a specific Honda Pilot was made by checking its production date.

Honda Pilots produced between 2003 and 2007 were all produced at the HMC factory in Alliston, Ontario, Canada.

Any Honda Pilot that came afterwards was produced at the Honda plant in Lincoln, Alabama.

Another way of getting the production location of a Honda Pilot is by checking the Vehicle Identification Number.

The VIN is a unique, 17-character string that’s present on the metal dashboard of your car.

The VIN carries basic information about your car, including its date and country of manufacture.

On any vehicle, the first VIN character shows the country of production.

For vehicles made in the United States of America, the first vehicle is a number that is 1, 4 or 5.

Vehicles made in Canada also have numbers as their first VIN character. But the difference is that the number is always 2.

Make sure to also read our article about driving the Honda Pilot in snow and winter.

Are Japanese or European Built Pilot Better?

As Honda doesn’t build the Pilot in Europe and Japan, this question doesn’t matter for the Pilot model.

Where Is the Pilot Designed?

Honda designs the Pilot SUV at its Research & Design Studio in Torrance, California. Ricky Hsu designed the original Honda Pilot in 1999.

Where Are Pilots Made for the Australia Market?

Honda doesn’t sell the Pilot on the Australia market, so this question hardly applies. Still, if you wanted to import the Pilot into Australia, it would come from the Alabama plant in the USA.

Where Are Pilots Made for the Canada Market?

Honda manufactures Pilot models sold on the Canada market at the plant in Lincoln, Alabama, USA.

The company used to produce Pilots for the Canada market at the Alliston, Ontario plant.

Because it needed to ramp up production of the Civic in Canada, it moved production to the USA in 2008.

Please also read our article about how long the Honda Pilot lasts.

Where Are Pilots Made for the U.K. Market?

Honda doesn’t produce the Pilot for the UK market because it doesn’t sell the model there.

However, if you were to import a Pilot into the United Kingdom, its country of manufacture would be the USA.

Is Honda Planning to Move Its Production?

Honda hasn’t indicated that it will move production of the Pilot from Alabama.

The Alabama plant currently manufactures other Honda models, including the Passport and Ridgeline.

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

Earlier this year, Honda placed some workers on temporary unpaid leave.

However, the Japanese giant hasn’t engaged in any massive retrenchment so far.

Job listings on Glassdoor and Indeed.com show Honda is still hiring workers at its factories. However, Honda is yet to go on a large-scale hiring spree.

Also read our article about where the Honda Passport is made.

Is Honda an American Company?

Contrary to expectations, Honda is a Japanese company that has its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan.

Honda is often confused for an American company because of its visible presence in the USA.

For instance, it is the first Japanese company to manufacture its cars in the country.

It is also one of the few brands that manufactures most of their cars sold to Americans in the US.

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