Bobbi Curran’s career at Honda of Canada Mfg. (HCM) has been defined by seizing opportunities and evolving alongside the company. Joining HCM in 1998, she took her first role as a mass production buyer for tier-one parts. For more than two decades, she made her mark in various areas of purchasing and procurement until 2022 when she became plant manager of Plant 1, the producer of the Honda Civic. Today, she serves as Vice President of HCM, where she is playing a pivotal role in guiding the company through its electrification journey.

“My career has really been founded on just taking advantage of opportunities as they were presented,” she says.

While she had always made it known she was interested in production, Curran says she was surprised when the plant manager opportunity came along in 2022 — and that the experience redefined her idea of leadership.
“It really opened up my viewpoint in terms of what a leader is,” she says. “The purchasing world is very dynamic and has the influence of the supply chain, so you lead in that respect. But taking on the factory lead position is really about the people; it’s all about how to motivate an entire organization towards common goals.”

For Curran, the people-first approach was key to her leadership strategy. She says she prioritized being accessible to her employees and visiting the factory floor to show her appreciation. “Making sure they knew I was part of the team, sharing a little bit of who I am as a person so there’s a connection there and really respecting when they asked for support,” she says. “With all of that, [I was] able to walk down the line and hear, ‘Hey Bobbi, how are you doing?’. That connection is meaningful.”

A big step towards electric

In June 2024, HCM reached a pivotal milestone with the start of production for the 2025 Honda Civic Hybrid sedan — winner of this year’s North American Car of the Year — at its Alliston, Ont. facility.

This marked the first time the Civic Hybrid was produced in Canada, a huge step towards the company’s electrification goals. (The launch followed a substantial investment aimed at positioning HCM as the leading plant for CR-V and Civic Hybrid production in North America.)

Reflecting on her experience with both traditional gas-powered models and hybrid vehicles, Curran said the integration of Civic Hybrid production into their existing manufacturing processes was relatively seamless thanks to their experience with the CR-V.

“There was new technology, absolutely, but we’ve kind of been in a technology evolution for a very long time,” she said. Instead, the primary focus was on being educated — understanding exactly what they were building, aligning with customer expectations and ensuring that the hybrid experience, such as the quieter cabin, met those expectations,” she says.

“It was really an educational journey more so than talking about technology and the differences in manufacturing,” she says. “The CRV taught lots of lessons in terms of how to manage battery usage, technology in terms of codes, so we could troubleshoot quickly.”

Building for the EV future

The future of Honda’s electrification in Canada is already taking shape. As part of a historic $15 billion Canadian EV Value Chain initiative announced in April, HCM announced preparations were being made to build two new facilities in Alliston dedicated to assembling EV batteries and vehicles. Construction on the facilities began earlier this year, and vehicle production is estimated to begin in 2028. Once fully operational, the EV plant will reportedly have the capacity to produce 240,000 electric vehicles per year, while the EV battery plant will boast an annual capacity of 36 gigawatt hours (GWh).

While preparing for the upcoming construction of new facilities, Bobbi has emphasized the importance of transparency and supporting the Alliston community and workforce.

“The amount of construction our little town here will experience is significant,” she says, adding that HCM has been joining community events to explain progress, working with local OPP to manage traffic situations and helping the community plan to minimize disruptions.

“Everything hinges on the communication part of this, making sure that everyone comes on this journey with us,” Curran says. “There are a lot of sensitivities to this transition in terms of what it means to people’s lives, and we need to manage that and make sure everyone understands why we’re making the decisions we’re making, what they’re founded on, and that there’s a sense in business logic to the approaches we’re taking.”

As construction ramps up toward 2026, Curran says she’ll shift her focus to preparing the associates for the transition ahead. That includes explaining how the team will handle the petrol, HEV and EV lineups in order to remain flexible, ensuring that the company can produce units as customer demand sets the pace. Again, her strategy all comes down to communication and transparency. “Communication is at the center of everything we’re doing right now.”

And it’s working. Curran says the Alliston community has been supportive of the project, partly because of the business and job creation it will bring to the area. In addition to securing the current workforce of 4,200 associates at HCM’s existing facilities, Honda projects that at least 1,000 new associates will be needed to support the new EV and battery facilities. Curran says HCM is engaging with local educational institutions, both at the high school and post-secondary level, educating students on future career opportunities with the company.

“It’s really about residential and small business infrastructure, making sure that we support that, and education, making sure we have a pathway for the youth we want to see to stay in the area,” she says.

The long-term vision

Looking ahead, Curran says the company’s future in the EV space is centered around flexibility and meeting customer demand. Recognizing society will take time to adapt, she says the company will need to balance the transition with continued production of petrol and hybrid vehicles, especially given the strong market reception of Honda’s hybrid models.

“Honda has made it very clear that we are 100 percent in on EV, and we made that clear 50 years ago in terms of how we manufacture our engines in terms of fuel economy,” she says. “This facility is the second founding, but it needs to be met with true customer desire.

For Curran, helping lead the company into the next 50 years is not just about adapting to new technologies; it’s about creating a lasting legacy for both Honda and the community.

“The factory we establish here is going to be how we manufacture in the future, so it’s groundbreaking in terms of what technologies we’re going to use to set the standard for North America,” she says.

“It’s about more than just producing an EV; it’s about how Honda is going to produce units in the future.”

As a leader, her decades in procurement have helped prepare her for the challenge.

“It almost makes it easier for me to chase the ideal state. I’m not encumbered with years of struggle and strife on how to build something and all the obstacles in the way. So it’s easy to then say, ‘This is our ideal state. What do we need to do to get to that?’ My role as a leader is to keep that vision in place for our associates that are working through these initiatives with our Japan team.”

This article was originally published in the Spring 2025 issue of Plant.