Photo: Honda
Towards the end of February 2019, Honda confirmed that Swindon would stop making cars in 2021. Katsushi Inoue, chief officer for European regional operations, expressed that the decision “has not been taken lightly” by the higher-ups and workforce.
Even the British public has concerns related to Brexit and the automotive industry, but in the long run, Honda prepares to streamline operations as much as possible. On a yearly basis, the South Marston site churns out 150,000 vehicles out of a worldwide total of 5.3 million.
The restructuring will see the Civic Hatchback switch over to North America. Production of the Civic Sedan at Honda Turkiye A.S., on the other hand, will stop in 2021 too. The automaker is open to “constructive dialogue” with the Turkish stalkeholders, be we wouldn’t keep out hopes up for a miracle. After all, the Kocaeli Province-based manufacturing plant has an output of 38,000 cars per year, too few to justify the costs.
Turning out attention back to the United Kingdom, it’s understood that BMW is interested in Swindon. Taking the factory from Honda would help the German automaker’s production output from a regional standpoint, but there’s also the matter of export. Portsmouth is 85 miles away from the plant, and the United States is not that far either by container ship.
The Guardian, citing “a source with knowledge” of the matter, reports that “there’s been some interest for some time” in Swindon. British media and European reports put the X1 at the forefront of the deal, a compact crossover that shares much of its underpinnings with the MINI Countryman.
On the other hand, “the Unite trade union and the government are understood to be focusing their lobbying efforts on persuading Honda to U-turn on its decision.” When asked about the mystery at hand, a spokesman from BMW replied that “there are currently no plans for additional plant locations in the UK.”
A no-deal Brexit would be a disaster for the British automotive sector, but nevertheless, BMW has a lot of time to decide what’s what by 2021, and so does Honda.
The restructuring will see the Civic Hatchback switch over to North America. Production of the Civic Sedan at Honda Turkiye A.S., on the other hand, will stop in 2021 too. The automaker is open to “constructive dialogue” with the Turkish stalkeholders, be we wouldn’t keep out hopes up for a miracle. After all, the Kocaeli Province-based manufacturing plant has an output of 38,000 cars per year, too few to justify the costs.
Turning out attention back to the United Kingdom, it’s understood that BMW is interested in Swindon. Taking the factory from Honda would help the German automaker’s production output from a regional standpoint, but there’s also the matter of export. Portsmouth is 85 miles away from the plant, and the United States is not that far either by container ship.
The Guardian, citing “a source with knowledge” of the matter, reports that “there’s been some interest for some time” in Swindon. British media and European reports put the X1 at the forefront of the deal, a compact crossover that shares much of its underpinnings with the MINI Countryman.
On the other hand, “the Unite trade union and the government are understood to be focusing their lobbying efforts on persuading Honda to U-turn on its decision.” When asked about the mystery at hand, a spokesman from BMW replied that “there are currently no plans for additional plant locations in the UK.”
A no-deal Brexit would be a disaster for the British automotive sector, but nevertheless, BMW has a lot of time to decide what’s what by 2021, and so does Honda.
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