The topic of the press release issued late last Wednesday was not the sort of thing to set green-car fans' hearts racing: "Statement...Re: North American Production Portfolio".
But buried in several paragraphs of detail from John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda, was one interesting detail: Assembly of the Honda Accord Hybrid will move from Marysville, Ohio, to a Honda plant in Sayama, Japan.
DON'T MISS: Honda Accord Hybrid: Supply Now Sufficient To Meet Demand (Mar 2015)
The extremely low-volume Honda Accord Plug-In Hybrid model is already assembled at Sayama. In more than two years, Honda has sold only 1,020 plug-in Accords.
But the Honda Accord Hybrid has received good reviews--it was this site's 2013 Best Car To Buy--and sales at last seemed to be picking up after a year of frustratingly limited availability after it launched.
2015 Honda Accord Hybrid
It's unclear what effect, if any, the production move to Japan will have on the pricing or availability of Honda's highest-mileage mid-size sedan.
When Autoblog asked Honda spokesperson Angie Nucci about the price of the Japan-built Accord Hybrid, she said only that the company didn't have "details on pricing to share at this point."
ALSO SEE: 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid Still In Very Short Supply: Why? (Aug 2014)
The Honda assembly plant in Marysville, Ohio, that previously assembled the Accord Hybrid will boost its capacity for gasoline Accord versions, as well as a new model (the Acura ILX compact sedan) added to the plant in February.
Specifically, it will enable the factory to "focus on its significant role in producing popular models including the Honda Accord Sedan and Coupe and the Acura TLX and ILX performance sedans," according to Mendel's statement.
2015 Honda Accord Hybrid
Honda is also discontinuing production of the Accord Crosstour, the five-door hatchback all-wheel-drive version of the previous-generation Accord.
The model was launched in 2010; the sixth and current model year will be its last.
The Crosstour was built at a Honda plant in East Liberty, Ohio, that will now focus on assembling the CR-V compact crossover, an updated 2016 Acura RDX. it will also add the Acura MDX early next year.
MORE: Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy: 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid (Nov 2013)
Honda builds 97 percent of the vehicles it sells in the U.S. in North America (including Mexico and Canada), it says.
Sales of the Accord Hybrid totaled only 979 in 2013, but rose to 13,977 last year.
Through March, an additional 2,585 were sold.
2016 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid launch - 2015 New York Auto Show
The hybrid mid-size sedan segment will see new competition with the addition of the 2016 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid, launched at the New York Auto Show just two weeks ago.
That car uses an adapted version of the 2016 Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid powertrain, and Chevrolet says it expects to receive a combined EPA rating of 47 mpg--equal to that of the Accord Hybrid.
[hat tip: Brian Henderson]
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