Honda confirms closure of Swindon plant
After 35 years, Honda will pull production from the UK in 2021, cutting 3,500 jobs in the process
The UK car industry has received another body blow with confirmation that Honda will close its Swindon factory in two years time. The Japanese brand employs 3,500 workers at the 33-year-old site, but said that after consultation with the UK Government, "no viable alternatives to the proposed closure of the Swindon plant have been identified." The facility will shut when the current Civic's life cycle comes to an end.
That means of course that the UK-built Honda Civic Type R will be no more, closing a remarkable chapter that gave Swindon exclusive global rights to all Civic production from 2015. Prior to that, the sprawling facility was the producer of Type R models since 2001, having first built a Civic back in 1994. The site has grown to such significance these days that Honda employs fully two per cent of Swindon's population - and in many cases, two generations from the same family.
Honda says it is pulling production out of Britain - and indeed Europe as a whole - due to its wider global strategy which place increasing significance on the modular construction and electrification. The company said earlier this year that significant changes to its resources and production structure would be made, and that the workforce would be focused on regions where customer demand is highest.
It will be scant consolation to the employees of the Swindon factory that slowing demand in Europe has contributed much to the decision. The staff can justifiably point to 70 countries that received its produce, and wonder why nothing more could be done for a factory which has produced 3.5m cars in its lifetime. Naturally we'll mourn the loss of the British-built Type R - coincidentally among the best hot hatches ever made - but really our thoughts and commiserations lay with 3,500 families now effectively placed on two years notice. Semper fi, guys.
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.
https://tradingeconomics.com/japan/government-debt...
https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterpham/2017/12/11/...
Living in Swindon and knowing plenty of people employed there, and now hearing about their worries finding other jobs, I think it's very disappointing.
The big H can go whistle if they think they're going to do much business from hereon in this neck of the woods.
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).
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1. a Japan EU free trade deal so no need to have footprints in the EU to sell into it.
2. Part of point 1 economies of scale one massive factory vs lots of small ones. /longer bath runs lower cost per unit.
3.the whole EV future is coming so quickly and car makers have to change or be left as an unviable company. I’d wager by 2030 or much sooner you’ll be hard pressed to be able to buy an ICE especially for run of the mill cars.
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)
Feel sorry for those losing their jobs though
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