Despite a foreign badge, one of America’s favorite SUVs is made right here
Here are three things not everyone knows about the humble Honda CR-V: This crossover may be engineered in Japan, but many of them are assembled in Greensburg, Indiana. It is also hugely popular, outselling every model that Jeep or Subaru make. Finally: An early generation of the CR-V came with a fold-out picnic table.
Honda’s Indiana plant has built two million automobiles since 2008. Today, it employs 2,700 employees. They build Civics, CR-Vs, and will soon take on all production of the Accord.
The automaker is heavily invested in the Greensburg community. To celebrate the Indiana plant’s 15th anniversary, Honda donated supplies to local schools and food banks. “Our associates have built a strong culture of giving back to the community,” said Shuji Onizawa, plant co-lead, at IAP. “It is our responsibility to positively contribute to our communities.”
Greensburg is far from Honda’s first plant in the U.S. That honor goes to the Marysville Auto Plant. According to the automaker, “Over the past four decades, Honda has steadily grown local production capabilities and now employs more than 33,000 associates in North America who support manufacturing operations at Honda’s 18 plants with the annual capacity to produce 1.86 million automobiles.”
The Indiana-built Honda CR-V is one of the most popular vehicles in the USA
The CR-V is a perennial favorite among U.S. buyers. They bought 402,791 of them in 2024 alone. That’s up 11% from 2023. Just how many CR-Vs is that? It doesn’t quite outshine the Toyota RAV4. But it beats out all Ram pickup trucks combined. It also sells better than any model Jeep makes or any model Subaru makes. In fact, it sells better than all Subaru Crosstreks and Foresters combined.
So what about that picnic table? As a value add, Honda engineered one into the first generation of its CR-V crossover. The table folded up and stowed over the vehicle’s spare tire. In fact, many CR-V owners never knew their SUV came with this accessory, so many of these tables have never been deployed. If you see a historic, first-gen CR-V take a peak to see if the table is still folded up in back.
