Honda seeks to boost car production in the UK
Honda plans to more than double car production in Britain, exporting some of the vehicles back to Japan, it emerged today.
Honda plans to more than double car production in Britain, exporting some of the vehicles back to Japan, it emerged today.
The company hopes to send around 10,000 Civic cars a year back to Japan from its Wiltshire factory - the first time Honda cars manufactured in Britain have been exported back to the country.
The company, Japan's third largest car maker, will shift its entire production of the new three-door Civic model to its Swindon plant next year.
The boost to Britain's car industry follows warnings from other Japanese car makers that they may move their production to the continent if Britain does not adopt the euro.
Tokyo press reports suggest that the failure of the pound to appreciate against the Japanese Yen as strongly as it did against the euro allowed the company to shift some production from Japan to Swindon where output had fallen.
The Swindon factory, which opened in 1992, currently makes the Civic's four-door and station wagon models and the larger Accord sedans.
The company is building a second plant in the town to raise output by 100,000 cars next year.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies