The Honda “Anna Engine Plant” in Anna, Ohio is one of the largest engine builders and consequently one of the larger in-house heat treaters in North America. The company recently celebrated 35 years of production with this summary of where the plant has come from and where it is going. Of most interest to us in the heat treating department which consists of mainly smaller pusher furnace supplied by Japan based Dowa.

“ANNA — The Anna Engine Plant (AEP) opened in 1985 as a 200,000 square-foot facility with just 94 associates. Today, the 2.8 million square-foot facility is Honda’s largest engine plant in the world, with more than 60 production lines covering casting, machining, heat treating, and assembly operations, and is one of the industry’s most vertically integrated engine plants. The facility supplies engines and powertrain components for Honda and Acura products made in Ohio, Indiana, Alabama, Canada, Mexico, and other locations across the globe and has produced nearly 30 million engines over the past 35 years.

The company has submitted the following report:

Associates at Anna produced engines for four exciting new models in 2022, as well as a new Honda-first powerplant that will drive the company’s newest hybrid models. These models were manufactured at plants throughout North America and all were supported by the efforts of the hard-working teams at the Anna Engine Plant. The team introduced a newly refined hybrid engine that will help lead the company into its electrified era, as Honda has set the goal of having 100 percent of its sales come from electrified vehicles by 2040.

The all-new, 2.0-liter Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder engine built at AEP is the first Honda engine to combine high-pressure direct-injection with multistage injection for an extremely homogeneous mixture that delivers clean combustion. Developed for use as part of Honda’s new hybrid powertrain, the new Atkinson-cycle engine was introduced in the 2023 CR-V hybrid, which is being built at Honda plants in Canada, Indiana and East Liberty, Ohio.

The sixth generation CR-V, which is the best-selling SUV of the last 25 years in the U.S., is already playing a key role in the Honda electrification strategy with CR-V hybrid-electric models positioned at the top of the lineup and expected to represent about 50% of annual CR-V sales.

In May, AEP built the turbocharged 1.5-liter VTEC engine producing 200 hp and 192 pound feet of torque for the Acura Integra, which marked the first factory Integra to feature a turbocharged engine. The powerplant went on to be named one of Ward’s 10 Best Engines for 2002 and played a major role in the Integra being named as the North American Car of the Year for 2023. Anna associates also worked very closely with their compatriots in Alabama to assist in the production of a new all-aluminum V6 engine for the 2023 Honda Pilot. The two sites collaborated on the assembly of the engines, with the blocks continuing to be cast by Anna associates. The team didn’t stop when the calendar flipped over, providing the turbocharged 1.5-liter gasoline engine and the 2.0-liter Atkinson-cycle powerplant for the 2023 Accord and Accord hybrid respectively. The latest Accord model rolled off the assembly line in Marysville on Jan. 5.

The Anna Engine Plant has already started the process of manufacturing electrified products and components, as Honda expands hybrid and electric vehicle sales significantly in the coming years. While change is imminent, it is still in the formative stages, and Anna’s internal combustion engines continue to have a place in Honda’s current lineup. So as Honda changes, it’s logical that the role of our plants, and our associates, will need to change as well and our Anna leadership team will be prepared to support them as we make this transition.

From the onset of the pandemic, the company has been committed to keeping its associates safe at work, all while managing production and delivering high-quality products to a global customer base. This would not have been possible without the many talented associates at the plant who rose to the challenges and came together as one team to support the company.”

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