RE: Honda confirms closure of Swindon plant

RE: Honda confirms closure of Swindon plant

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Discussion

RWDan

42 posts

115 months

Monday 13th May 2019
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P155flaps said:
Build quality gone massively down hill in the last 10-15 years. I expect due to cost cutting measures and driving down parts costs etc but that factor alone has driven us away from Honda forever.

My last FK8 Type R and the FK2 will be our last Hondas purchased ever. Even if they do release another s2k.

My first EG VTI was bomb proof and the S2k had virtually 0 issues. The latest batch of Rs have their fair share of issues. The FN2 we had before that was just as bad but wanted to give them a 2nd chance 7 years later.

Sad loss of the jobs and impacts on the Swindon community as a whole but good riddance to the shoddy build quality / QC that seems to have crept in at Swindon over the years. Sadly others I know feel the same way, many have had Hondas none stop for years and been driven away from the brand over time. My Lotus has been much more reliable than our last 2 Swindon built cars (he says touching wood).
Honda Swindon have actually won best quality award 3 times in a row against all other honda plants.. they are the current holder.

CDP

7,459 posts

254 months

Monday 13th May 2019
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Welshbeef said:
CDP said:
Annoying that Swindon is fairly close to Dyson. This would have been a good place for them. With a well trained and until recently motivated workforce accustomed to building cars to a high standard.
Hopefully James Dyson will see the light or BMW who have been sniffing round too.

EVs are coming and coming fast - it’s going to decimate small garages and parts places there will be literally wiper blade servicing and that is all.
Sure there is the rump of existing ICE to keep running but unless niche in 30 years or maybe 20 years garages will be a distant memory.

Also think about garages - as in fuel stations. Once EV range is fine and people charge at home why would you ever use a full up station? It would be in extremely rare situations as such that business as it stands now is in decline only


Maybe a purpose for mechanics of now would be to modify ICE vehicles into EVs so you have what are classic cars today but with EV power. They will need to be more electrical biased than mechanical though

What will car dealerships do? Sell cars only - or will it simply move the whole market to leased (for the batteries)
Maybe BMW if they want a bit more capacity near Oxford but I can't see Dyson now sadly.

Electric cars still have brakes, suspension, steering etc. All this needs servicing, engine oil is pretty minor compared with all the safety inspection work a good garage does.

Tesla will need somebody for this, frankly dropping dealerships is silly. You get somebody in for a service and they look at the new stuff in the showroom while they are there. Lexus have done well converting recalls into repeat sales by making a special effort for their customers when returning to the showroom.

Ar63

120 posts

66 months

Monday 13th May 2019
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Honda's interior and exterior styling look awful and their choice of cars are quite poor as well now. When I was hunting around for an estate, Honda was high on my list since I owned a saloon Accord at the time. Enjoyed the car but they stopped selling it in the UK ~2014/15 which was a shame. Would have bought the Tourer but could not live with the awful media/sat nav/phone system.

P155flaps

556 posts

143 months

Monday 13th May 2019
quotequote all
RWDan said:
Honda Swindon have actually won best quality award 3 times in a row against all other honda plants.. they are the current holder.
No wonder they are closing all their other EU factories and focusing on one then :-)

FourWheelDrift

88,516 posts

284 months

Monday 13th May 2019
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Suffering from Oldsmobile syndrome, customers dying off?

FerrousOxide

221 posts

145 months

Monday 13th May 2019
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FFS folks - let's maybe keep the posturing out of this.

I worked in Swindon from '89 until '00 and it seemed like everyone had a spouse/child/parent/neighbour working there. It's always made me feel that Honda was a British brand, and I can only image how those families are going to be affected.

Sad news all round.

Scottie - NW

1,288 posts

233 months

Monday 13th May 2019
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The only goods that seem to be manufactured still in the UK are those that are too heavy or need to be produced in too great a quantity to import, food products or items for strategic/technical reasons. Alas it's just cheaper to make things far away and ship them here frown

LarsG

991 posts

75 months

Monday 13th May 2019
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No one was buying them. I believe most were made for export to the USA and all they buy there are pick ups and SUVs.

Also Japan has now signed a no tariff trade deal with the EU so they can import cars from Japan without penalty.

Nothing to do with Brexit, everything to do with people buying SUV boxes on wheels and the EU stitching us up with an under the counter deal.

SidewaysSi

10,742 posts

234 months

Monday 13th May 2019
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LarsG said:
No one was buying them. I believe most were made for export to the USA and all they buy there are pick ups and SUVs.

Also Japan has now signed a no tariff trade deal with the EU so they can import cars from Japan without penalty.

Nothing to do with Brexit, everything to do with people buying SUV boxes on wheels and the EU stitching us up with an under the counter deal.
The EU stitching us up? Please explain.

Ardennes92

610 posts

80 months

Monday 13th May 2019
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SidewaysSi said:
LarsG said:
No one was buying them. I believe most were made for export to the USA and all they buy there are pick ups and SUVs.

Also Japan has now signed a no tariff trade deal with the EU so they can import cars from Japan without penalty.

Nothing to do with Brexit, everything to do with people buying SUV boxes on wheels and the EU stitching us up with an under the counter deal.
The EU stitching us up? Please explain.
I didn’t think the eu/japan deal came into full effect for a few years, although I think it is the majority of mp’s are the ones that are doing the stitching up

Welshbeef

49,633 posts

198 months

Monday 13th May 2019
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Ardennes92 said:
I didn’t think the eu/japan deal came into full effect for a few years, although I think it is the majority of mp’s are the ones that are doing the stitching up
That’s why the plant is closing in a few years time.

Alfaguy

80 posts

223 months

Monday 13th May 2019
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Well when turkeys - or at least the majority of vote for Christmas that's what they get. Christmas means Christmas.

Welshbeef

49,633 posts

198 months

Monday 13th May 2019
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Alfaguy said:
Well when turkeys - or at least the majority of vote for Christmas that's what they get. Christmas means Christmas.
Bloody EV and EU Japan trade deal - why did we allow our EU commissioners to agree it?

Thank god we’re leaving as that Tobin tax will cripple the City

RobDickinson

31,343 posts

254 months

Monday 13th May 2019
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Theres less demand for cars and esp ICE cars will drop, with the EU deal why would Honda make cars in UK rather than Japan?

soad

32,894 posts

176 months

Monday 13th May 2019
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I find it hard to get excited by the latest Honda offerings. They simply look terrible. Been said already? Apologies.

Horrible news for the workforce though.

ambuletz

10,734 posts

181 months

Monday 13th May 2019
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GTEYE said:
Hot Knife said:
Well if you actually read the article you will see that Brexit has nothing to do with it and they are pulling out of Europe as a whole because of dwindling interest throughout Europe.
Or perhaps that the seem not to understand Europe...
the silly masses of europe seems to want cars that feel good quality rather than are good quality.

Welshbeef

49,633 posts

198 months

Monday 13th May 2019
quotequote all
soad said:
I find it hard to get excited by the latest Honda offerings. They simply look terrible. Been said already? Apologies.

Horrible news for the workforce though.
This is key.

Product product product.
It’s not leading edge or bleeding edge it’s him drum and actually pretty garish a bit like those infinity cars. They may work in Japan but clearly they are not as popular with the British buyers.

RobDickinson

31,343 posts

254 months

Monday 13th May 2019
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Just had a look at Honda Uk..

Jazz, civic, hrv/crv , coming soon honda e and the NSX

Not even the accord or odyssey, let alone legend/clarity/insight ?

Jazz isnt bad for a pensioner carriage

Civic is just woefully barry styled, the SUVs are incredibly boring in a market flooded with much better options.

Given how many cars honda sells worldwide im pretty shocked at the lineup

MissChief

7,109 posts

168 months

Monday 13th May 2019
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RobDickinson said:
Just had a look at Honda Uk..

Jazz, civic, hrv/crv , coming soon honda e and the NSX

Not even the accord or odyssey, let alone legend/clarity/insight ?

Jazz isnt bad for a pensioner carriage

Civic is just woefully barry styled, the SUVs are incredibly boring in a market flooded with much better options.

Given how many cars honda sells worldwide im pretty shocked at the lineup
HRV and CRV are selling well in the States who, it seems, want nothing but Crossovers and SUV's at the moment. Non Premium German saloons sell in pitiful numbers these days and they haven't had a Legend available in the UK for years. There's a reason so few manufacturers make an executive saloon and even those that do don't sell it in the UK. Small hatchbacks are falling by the wayside and Swindon makes a small hatchback. There are lots of reasons, but this and the tariff-free EU deal are the main ones.

soad

32,894 posts

176 months

Monday 13th May 2019
quotequote all
What happened to CR-Z? Discontinued?