History of Honda Odyssey

The Honda Odyssey is a minivan manufactured by Japanese automaker Honda since 1994, marketed worldwide, and now in its fourth generation in North America and Japan.

 

The Odyssey had originally been conceived and engineered in Japan, in the wake of country's economic crisis of the 1990s – which in turn imposed severe constraints on the vehicle's size and overall concept, dictating the minivan's manufacture in an existing facility with minimal modification.[1] The result was a smaller minivan, in the Compact MPV class, that was well received in the Japanese domestic market[1] and less well received in North America.[2] The first generation Odyssey was marketed in Europe as the Shuttle.

 

Subsequent generations diverged to reflect market variations, and Honda built a plant in Lincoln, Alabama, incorporating the ability to manufacture larger models.[2] Since model year 1999, Honda has marketed a larger (large MPV-class) Odyssey in North America and a smaller Odyssey in Japan and other markets. Honda also offered the larger North American Odyssey in Japan as Honda LaGreat between 1999 and 2004.