Racing ATV’s are all but dead, and if you need proof, look no further than the removal of the class from the Dakar. But the ATVs in general haven’t gone anywhere. Far from it. Honda has always been a big player in the niche, and a recent, considerable investment looks to make the brand bigger than ever in North America.
The Japanese manufacturer is expanding its 41-year-old plant in southern Alamance County with a $7.7 million investment. The Swepsonville plant transitioned from only making lawn mowers and similar equipment to ATVs in 2023, and now Honda makes all its ATVs for North America at the plant.
This cash injection is intended to renovate an underused part of the plant, which totals 40,000 square feet. The newly renovated area will be used to make more ATV parts, such as side covers, front and rear fenders, toolbox covers, and smaller components. Modernization of a die-cast building, along with adding new injection-molding equipment, will cost around $6 million, while the rest of the money will go to funding the payroll of the 18 new hires needed.
The 18 new hires will work alongside the 20 current staff at the plant, and the average annual earnings of the new jobs will be $65,555, meaning the annual payroll will increase by about $1.2 million. Not all of the money for the project is coming from Honda, however, as it received state support to the tune of $160,000 thanks to a building re-use grant approved by the N.C. Rural Infrastructure Authority.
Hats off to Honda for creating jobs in the US and manufacturing all of its ATV components there, at a time when there are more layoffs in the powersports industry than ever, and when private equity is making so many of us sour to those companies that give in to it—yes, we’re talking about at you Polaris.
