Honda Motor Co. Ltd., which introduced the first in-vehicle vacuum on the 2014 Odyssey, has discontinued the option because the supplier it used went out of business.
Shop-Vac closed its factory in Williamsport, Pa., last fall, blaming the pandemic as it laid off about 400 employees.
Honda said it was surprised by Shop-Vac's abrupt shutdown and pulled the HondaVac feature from the 2022 Odyssey while it determines whether another supplier can step in to help parents clean Cheerios crushed into the van's seats.
"Regarding whether HondaVac will return, that is something we are continuing to investigate, but to this point we have not identified an alternative supply source," a Honda spokesperson said.
One possible scenario is that Shop-Vac itself eventually could resume deliveries to Honda. In late December, a Chinese company that operates in the U.S. as GreatStar Tools USA bought Shop-Vac's assets and said it planned to reopen the Pennsylvania plant, though it's not clear how soon that would happen.