Honda has officially announced its decision to close its Swindon, UK plant in 2021. The closure of the factory that makes the Jazz, CR-V, Civic Hatchback and Civic Type R (Swindon is the global hub for the FK8) is part of a move to restructure Honda’s global manufacturing network, and to focus on electrification.
“This restructure comes as Honda accelerates its commitment to electrified cars, in response to the unprecedented changes in the global automotive industry. The significant challenges of electrification will see Honda revise its global manufacturing operations, and focus activity in regions where it expects to have high production volumes,” Honda said.
Swindon currently produces 150,000 cars per year, and employs approximately 3,500 people. Consultation with potentially affected employees will begin today, Honda says. Factory aside, Honda’s European HQ will continue to be located in the UK.
The global restructure will also involve Honda’s operations in Turkey. The Japanese carmaker currently produces 38,000 units per year in the country, but will cease manufacturing current Civic sedan there in 2021. Honda says it intends to continue its business operations in the country and will continue to hold constructive dialogue with Turkish stakeholders.
“In light of the unprecedented changes that are affecting our industry, it is vital that we accelerate our electrification strategy and restructure our global operations accordingly. As a result, we have had to take this difficult decision to consult our workforce on how we might prepare our manufacturing network for the future. This has not been taken lightly and we deeply regret how unsettling today’s announcement will be for our people,” said Katsushi Inoue, president of Honda Motor Europe.
Swindon has produced some absolute gems for enthusiasts over the years, as the “home of the Civic Type R hatchback”. See the EP3, FN2 and FK2 alongside today’s FK8 CTR here.
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Some said this is due to British GLC mentality. I agree.
Great Britain overlords r kolosing shops. Congrats Brexiters! This is what u vote for rite? Ur kinds here is oso the same species.
Agree too. Btw, Malaysian GLC had now improved tremendously compared to previous regime.
British, just like the abang abangs are all lazy. They must learn to work hard to make things succeed.
British abang-abangs? Are you talking about the Saxons that came from Scandinavia and the Normans that came from France? How are they related in this topic?
Keyword = brexit
Honda says it’s not due to BREXIT. I say… yeahhh.. right.
Its hard to manage British .. Jepun pun lariii !!!
It’s hard to manage Jepun… those who tried end up in jail.
nvm la…prefer japan made
‘As a result, we have had to take this difficult decision to consult our workforce on how we might prepare our manufacturing network for the future”
Such ‘politically safe’ way of saying we have to fire you.