Honda Odyssey (North America)

Honda Odyssey
2018 Honda Odyssey EX-L
Overview
Manufacturer	Honda
Production	1994–present
Model years	1995–present
Body and chassis
Class	Minivan
Body style	5-door minivan
Layout	Front-engine, front-wheel-drive

The Honda Odyssey is a minivan manufactured by Japanese automaker Honda and marketed for the North American market. Introduced in 1994, the Odyssey is now in its fifth generation, which began in 2018.^[1]

The Odyssey was conceived and engineered in Japan after the country's economic crisis of the 1990s, which constrained the vehicle's size and concept and dictated its manufacture in an existing facility with minimal modification.^[2] The result was a smaller minivan, in the compact MPV class, that was well received in the Japanese domestic market,^[2] but less well received in North America.^[3] The first-generation Odyssey was marketed in Europe as the Honda Shuttle.^{[citation needed]}

Subsequent generations diverged to reflect market variations, and Honda built a plant in Lincoln, Alabama, United States, that could manufacture larger models.^[3] 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. Until 2005, the North American Odyssey was also sold in Japan as the LaGreat (ラグレイト, Ragureito). Both versions of the Odyssey were sold in Japan at Honda Clio dealership locations. Both versions of the Odyssey are currently sold in the Middle East.^[4]