Some manufacturing details (Turnology article)
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Can't imagine the additional expense of not having a product for 6 more months and all that infrastructure at the PMC and engine production plant plus employees, subcontractors, insurance, taxes, etc. etc. I am going to take a wild guess and say the price of the car will be increased too.
I was chatting with one of the Acura execs at the Detroit press launch and he was saying that they visited the factories of some of the other supercar manufacturers to see how the others handle the manufacturing process (surprising that their competitors were open like that). One of the things that they found a bit surprising is how much stuff is hand built. He said Honda's approach would be to hand build things with the assistance of robotics where possible to ensure precisions.
I also asked him and others about potentially having a factory tour/factory delivery program for the NSX as that is part of the supercar ownership experience for some of the other cars. Unfortunately he said they didn't set up the PMC to really accommodate that sort of thing and there's no plan to do so for the time being. I think it would be a great thing for the brand if people could tour the factory and see how the NSX (and whatever else they end up building there) is constructed.
Honda has never had layoffs of full-time employees in its history, very unlikely there'd be layoffs in this situation. Especially because the people assembling the NSX require special training to assemble these cars as the manufacturing process for the NSX isn't the same as the mass-produced stuff.
Delays in the production of new automotive designs is not all that uncommon. It's just that this particular car is highly anticipated and very public. I've had the opportunity to speak with many of the engineers and designers working on the NSX and from Ted Klaus on down, they all regret that Honda announced the car so early as it has put a lot more pressure and scrutiny on the team.
As for the factory, G.Irish is correct. There is a ton of training and practice that happens before formal production is started. What you are seeing in Monterey and driving on the test tour are some of their practice runs. That factory was fully staffed over a year ago.
And the article....my dad always says "believe some of what you read, half of what you see and none of what you hear." The GTR was not the main bench mark for the NSX. It was the F458 (and recently 488) and the McLaren MP12. With so little information coming out of Honda, the media is making a lot of assumptions and some just aren't accurate.
I think a lot of people over generalize and assume too much when they see a product in development and don't consider the amount of research and planning that goes on, especially with a legacy of a car such as the NSX. I can't wait for it be released so that the real critiques can surface and the speculation and guesses can end.
Yes, agree with this! A friend gave me some very old early 1960s footage of Hondas manafacturing process and R&D which I only viewed last night. It was amazing to see the level of design, tool making, RD, testing, etc etc in the manafacturing process for a 50cc scooter.
I can only imagine whats it has been like for the new NSX in both the States and Japan.
