RE: Honda confirms closure of Swindon plant
Discussion
Alfaguy said:
Well when turkeys - or at least the majority of vote for Christmas that's what they get. Christmas means Christmas.
b
ks. It had nothing to do with Brexit. Honda have been moving models out of Swindon for years - the Jazz and CRV already left: pre-Brexit and based on a pre-Brexit decision, respectively - and no-one in Europe buys Hondas. They sold about 45,000 Civics in Europe last year, some of which were the Turkish-made saloon. There just isn't enough demand here for any European factory to make financial sense. At least 60% of its output was exported outside the EU and that was with Swindon operating at half its capacity.The factory would be closing with or without Brexit, and playing politics with it is either ignorant or downright crass.
Scottie - NW said:
It's not just Honda either, look at a decade or two ago and cars from Honda, Nissan, Mazda, Toyota, Mitsubishi and Subaru , there were loads you would love to drive and own. Look what that list of 6 produce now in comparison...
And why is that? Are they catering for the Japan market only?
S2000 wonderful car
Prelude Type R epic
Alto fun
Welshbeef said:
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
It's realy not that simple.Thank god we’re leaving as that Tobin tax will cripple the City
Tariffs are bad. They are a tax on consumers here, not on the foreign manufacturer. The EU *loves* tariffs as they pocket 80% of if to spend on hookers, coke and whatever S*^t they desire to put on their expenses. And VAT on top (that they also pocket a slice of). They make domestic (whether you see that as EU or UK) manufacturers automatically 10% less efficient because they don't need to be. That extra margin makes the unions demand more £££ and as a result everything around the plant cost more, driving inflation and a vicious circle of price rises... and the worst part is that a less efficient plant/higher labour costs drives up the prices of exports making them uncompetitive. Get rid of tariffs and EU manufacturers will become more efficent becuase that have to be.
The Honda plant has been at 50% capacity for years - of course it was going to close, and that had a far bigger impact on the factory gate price of a civic than any removal of EU tariff ever did. This story should be stapled to and filed alongside the death of the mondeo, it's EXACTLY the same cause. Why buy Honda when that BMW/Merc/Audi costs the same over 3 years?
Sadly do you see many Honda's on the roads here in the UK? Certainly not many new ones and if at all they are SUV's or small SUV's. Honda just doesn't sell well in the UK and is being crushed by he competition. I can only imagine in Europe it is even worse.
Lets hope the employees in Swindon can find suitable employment elsewhere over the next two years. McLaren anybody or Aston Martin or even Lotus.....
Lets hope the employees in Swindon can find suitable employment elsewhere over the next two years. McLaren anybody or Aston Martin or even Lotus.....
belleair302 said:
Sadly do you see many Honda's on the roads here in the UK? Certainly not many new ones and if at all they are SUV's or small SUV's. Honda just doesn't sell well in the UK and is being crushed by he competition. I can only imagine in Europe it is even worse.
Lets hope the employees in Swindon can find suitable employment elsewhere over the next two years. McLaren anybody or Aston Martin or even Lotus.....
much as i love mazda, toyota, nissan and honda i'm not sure who the market is for them. Yes they are super reliable. but the korean cars are reliable too and cheaper. hondas/toyotas are similar in price to manufacturers that used to be more expensive (merc, vw, audi)Lets hope the employees in Swindon can find suitable employment elsewhere over the next two years. McLaren anybody or Aston Martin or even Lotus.....
Welshbeef said:
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. Horrible news for the workforce though.
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.
Hot Knife said:
For the amount they have spent on marketing, prime time TV advertising with big budget ads, high end event and sports etc. it's quite surprising to hear the demand has slowed. A few years ago you couldn't watch TV without seeing one of their very nice ads.
I looked at the Honda website a few weeks ago and was quite struck by how little they offer now. The nineties and early 2000's was a completely different story with some really popular models, Prelude, Integra, S2000, CR-X, CR-V etc. and such a big repertoire to choose from. Fast forward to now and it seems all that is left is the Civic, HRV and Jazz. How dull!
They still also have such a highly held regard for reliability too, some of the best in the business still. That means a lot to many people.
I was part interested in what they had to offer recently but was really surprised to find what they had was horrendously dull or ugly as sin or both. The civic type R looks ridiculous. I wouldn't want to drive any of their cars I'm sorry to say and it's strange to see such a Giant of the times slide like this.
yep this is indeed true... the stuff they churn out now is awful I looked at the Honda website a few weeks ago and was quite struck by how little they offer now. The nineties and early 2000's was a completely different story with some really popular models, Prelude, Integra, S2000, CR-X, CR-V etc. and such a big repertoire to choose from. Fast forward to now and it seems all that is left is the Civic, HRV and Jazz. How dull!
They still also have such a highly held regard for reliability too, some of the best in the business still. That means a lot to many people.
I was part interested in what they had to offer recently but was really surprised to find what they had was horrendously dull or ugly as sin or both. The civic type R looks ridiculous. I wouldn't want to drive any of their cars I'm sorry to say and it's strange to see such a Giant of the times slide like this.
My Civic I bought was the worst put together car I have ever owned, and that's saying something having owned an Austin Maestro for god's sake. It went back to Honda twice with a dash board that rattled constantly before they admitted that they had a problem on the production line with them, not to mention the customer service. Before people jump on the Brexit bandwagon one of the production lines has been closed for a while and two local dealerships closed years before the Brexit fiasco started. They faced criticism over the design of the FK2 so answered the critics with the FK8. (well done Honda) So before blaming anyone they should look inwards because I for one would never buy another Honda.
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.
That means F**K all and just shows how bad the quality is at Honda in general. If I buy a car I don't give a toss which factory or country it hails from and winning an award against yourself is just internal PR. Quality awards against BMW, Mazda, Ford, Vauxhall etc etc... thats what matters. Then we can move onto design awards.
I tried the 2018 Civic Type R but didn't get on with it - too much like any other hatch from the past few years - bland.
I think Honda's heyday was 85-2005-ish: cars like the CRX, NSX & Integra were all innovative and fun to drive. The best of Honda's recent output (New NSX aside) hasn't been available in the UK - CRZ-RZ, S660, Accord & Legend.
Sad that Honda manufacturing will cease in the UK, but that's globalisation for you...
I think Honda's heyday was 85-2005-ish: cars like the CRX, NSX & Integra were all innovative and fun to drive. The best of Honda's recent output (New NSX aside) hasn't been available in the UK - CRZ-RZ, S660, Accord & Legend.
Sad that Honda manufacturing will cease in the UK, but that's globalisation for you...
Edited by dobly on Tuesday 14th May 03:43
FourWheelDrift said:
Suffering from Oldsmobile syndrome, customers dying off?
Or that Brits/Europeans will continue to buy any German car without even considering the alternatives.Look at the range of cars available in Japan/Asia loads of choices, odd niches and everything from kai cars to Mercedes S class sized and umpteen vans/mpvs
In the main Dealer Honda Reading it sells other brands of used cars - this is exclusively a Honda dealership thing from what I can see.
Why would you do that? Answer so few new sold means not enough stock of used cars and it’s slow demise.
When I walk into the following dealerships in Reading none have any brands for sale apart from their own
BMW
Merc
Audi
Skoda
Seat
VW
Hyundai
Jag
Lambo
Vauxhall
There is no Reading Ford dealership.
Yet Honda stocks used cars of other brands....
Why would you do that? Answer so few new sold means not enough stock of used cars and it’s slow demise.
When I walk into the following dealerships in Reading none have any brands for sale apart from their own
BMW
Merc
Audi
Skoda
Seat
VW
Hyundai
Jag
Lambo
Vauxhall
There is no Reading Ford dealership.
Yet Honda stocks used cars of other brands....
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.
That's what I was thinking... I just hope James Dyson is reading these comments. 
M
camel_landy 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.
That's what I was thinking... I just hope James Dyson is reading these comments. M
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