Honda has revealed the future of its Swindon car plant is secure by announcing it will receive £200 million investment to build the next generation Civic.
What’s more, it will be a Civic sold around the world – meaning Swindon will become a fully-fledged Honda global production hub for the new Civic five-door.
This will, says Honda, push up production at the plant and improve economies of scale.
“By establishing HUM as a global production facility for the Civic five door, Honda is demonstrating its long-term commitment to manufacturing in the UK and Europe,” said director of Honda of the UK Manufacturing (HUM) Jason Smith.
“This is incredibly important for HUM and is a reward for the commitment and effort put in by Honda Associates in recent years.
“As a global production facility for the Civic five door model we look forward to making the most of the opportunity to export this model not only to our European customers, but also, to key global markets.”
It takes Honda’s total investment in Swindon since 1985 up to more than £2.2 billion.
The commitment to the Civic does mean the CR-V won’t be made at Swindon in the future, though. The next-generation version of that will move to Honda of Canada Manufacturing, with British and European models imported from there.
Even so, it’s great news for the UK, said COO and president of Honda Motor Europe Toshiaki Mikoshiba. “This announcement sends a clear message to our Associates and suppliers of the strategic importance that Honda Motor Company places on producing cars at our plant in Swindon, UK.”