2018 Honda Odyssey enters production in Alabama
This minivan is as American as apple pie, baseball and heated political arguments on social media.
The latest all-American minivan is rolling off the production line, and guess what? It's a Honda.
Honda has kick-started production of the 2018 Odyssey minivan at its Honda Manufacturing of Alabama plant. It's the only place where the Odyssey will be built, and it also happens to be the home of the Pilot, the Ridgeline and the Acura MDX. HMA also manufactures the V6 engines for each of these cars.
Will this new crop of minivans be able to hold off the crossover scourge? I hope so.
This is the fourth generation of Odyssey to be built in Alabama, and it's the second such Odyssey to be both designed and developed in the US. The badge may come from Japan, but it's a properly American vehicle, for buyers who take pride in buying domestic products.
On paper, the Odyssey looks prepared to bring the fight to Chrysler's new Pacifica and Toyota's refreshed Sienna. It packs a 280-horsepower V6, a new 10-speed automatic for certain trims and a set of trick second-row sliding seats.
Its technological complement is impressive, too. A camera allows driver and passenger to monitor the goings-on in the second and third row, even at night. There's an app that lets passengers control the rear-seat entertainment system and climate control, and a 4G LTE hotspot works in conjunction with the entertainment system for video streaming.
The 2018 Odyssey goes on sale a little later this year, and pricing has not yet been announced.
