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West Coast labor dispute hampers Japanese automakers' US plants

The ongoing labor dispute between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and port owners along the West Coast is starting to affect more Japanese automakers building vehicles in the US. The issue already forced Honda and Subaru to take the expensive option of airlifting some parts into the US weeks ago, and according to USA Today, Toyota and Nissan have begun doing so, as well. The choice hasn't been cheap, though, and Subaru's chief financial officer estimated that the decision cost around $60 million more per month than sending components by cargo ship. The effects continue to radiate, according to USA Today, and shortages of some models are possible. Honda is slowing production at its factories in Ohio, Indiana and Canada because the automaker doesn't have enough transmissions and electronics for some vehicles. Toyota already cut back on overtime at some factories. Nissan has only seen a small effect from the issue, though, because of its local suppliers. Dock workers and port owners have been negotiating on a new contract since last year, and the union has organized work slowdowns in response. According to USA Today, the automakers could move shipments to Canada or Mexico, but it would take longer for parts to arrive. News Source: USA TodayImage Credit: Mark Ralston / AFP / Getty Images Earnings/Financials Plants/Manufacturing UAW/Unions Honda Nissan Subaru Toyota shipping port labor dispute

2015 Honda Fit production gets underway in Mexico

After two years of construction, Honda's new factory in Celaya, Mexico, has officially begun production of the all-new 2015 Fit in North America. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Honda President and CEO Takanobu Ito both attended the opening and watched the first Fit roll off the line at the $800-million plant. Later this year, Honda will add production of its new Vezel small crossover to the new facility, though the latter is expected to be marketed in North America under a new name.
The Celaya factory will specialize in building subcompact cars by employing cutting-edge tech to use less material and less energy during production. Honda is still constructing a $470-million transmission plant on the campus to build continuously variable transmissions in the second half of 2015. When it's finished, it is expected to have an annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles and employ 3,200 people.
With the facility's completion, Honda now has a 1.92-million unit annual production capacity in North America, and it claims that when Celaya reaches full production, 95-percent of vehicles sold in the US will be built in North America. The new Fit has already proven quite popular in Japan, and now we will have to wait and see if North American buyers embrace it as well. The first new Fit customer cars will hit the roads later this spring, and as Honda spokesman Steve Kinkade tells Autoblog, all Fit models sold in North American will be built at the plant. Scroll down to read the full press release about the Fit and its new Mexican home.

Acura NSX and David Lee Roth wail together in Super Bowl spot

Super Bowl 50 is just over a week away, but carmakers are already rolling out their big ads. Acura's newly released commercial uses the screams and moans from Van Halen's David Lee Roth and the song Runnin' with the Devil to build excitement about the upcoming supercar. As Van Halen plays, the NSX evolves from a slab of metal into the turbocharged, hybrid coupe. In a patriotic touch, the commercial uses red, white, and blue to subtly communicate the supercar's US development and production. It's a clever ad, sure, but we wish it showed more of the new NSX's high-performance capability. There's never a bad time to listen to some Van Halen, though. The video above is the 30-second Super Bowl commercial, which airs during the first quarter. However, the clip below is a one-minute version that lets the visuals breathe more. The longer cut is the better one, but Acura's choice is understandable given the expense of Super Bowl ad time. Acura Rolls Out American-made NSX Supercar with Super Bowl Commercial Set to Van Halen Classic, Runnin' with the Devil Jan 29, 2016 - TORRANCE, Calif. Iconic Van Halen song infuses high-voltage energy into NSX rollout Comprehensive activation includes social media sweepstakes, enabling consumers to experience the NSX Acura is one of the first brands to use Twitter Conversational Video to launch Super Bowl spot Acura is showcasing the next generation NSX, the only supercar made in America1, to the soundtrack of an iconic American rock song in a new commercial that will debut during Super Bowl 50. The high-energy vocal effects of the Van Halen classic Runnin' with the Devil provide the powerful beat for the Acura commercial that will appear during the first quarter of the big game. The spot is a showcase of the Precision Crafted Performance brand direction that is core to the Acura brand and vividly represented in the NSX supercar. The new Acura Super Bowl commercial is posted to Acura.com and Acura social media channels for previewing before the big game and is augmented with a series of unique social media activations and live experiences, including one of the first applications of Twitter Conversational Video to launch a Super Bowl spot. "In our Acura commercial, we wanted to convey the excitement of the NSX to a big Super Bowl audience," said Jon Ikeda, vice president and general manager of Acura.