Honda to close British car plant in Swindon as Brexit looms

Times News Service

MUSCAT: Japanese carmaker Honda have announced their decision to close their UK car manufacturing factory in Swindon by 2021.

The announcement comes just weeks before the UK is set to leave the European Union as part of its Brexit withdrawal plan, which comes into effect on 29 March, 2019, although the car makers say the move to pull out of the UK is part of a global restructuring plan.

The factory in Swindon employs 3,500 people, and produces about 150,000 cares every year, as part of its UK operations, which is titled Honda of the UK Manufacturing (HUM).The closure of this factory will be the first time they have shut down on of their manufacturing plants in their 71 years of operations.

Honda will now begin to focus more on electric vehicles.

Katsushi Inoue, Chief Officer for European Regional Operations, Honda Motor Co., Ltd., and President, Honda Motor Europe said; “In light of the unprecedented changes that are affecting our industry, it is vital that we accelerate our electrification strategy and restructure our global operations accordingly.

As a result, we have had to take this difficult decision to consult our workforce on how we might prepare our manufacturing network for the future.

This has not been taken lightly and we deeply regret how unsettling today’s announcement will be for our people.”

HUM Director, Jason Smith, said; “We understand the impact this proposal will have on our associates, wider supplier base and the local community. We are committed to supporting associates to help them through this difficult time.”

However, Honda’s European headquarters will be located in Bracknell in the UK, and will continue to meet the needs of its European customers.

Justin Tomlinson, the North Swindon Conservative MP and Department of Welfare and Pensions Minister said that plans were already underway to find solutions to the problem at hand.

“Working with Honda, the Government, led by the Business Secretary, staff and unions, there will be a taskforce set up to provide support for all staff, as we did when jobs were lost previously at Honda,” he said.

“Honda will be consulting with all staff and there is not expected to be any job losses, or changes in production until 2021.”

He added that he had collaborated with Robert Buckland, the Tory MP for South Swindon and the Solicitor General, and had “already spoken to the Business Secretary & Honda. They are clear this is based on global trends and not Brexit as all European market production will consolidate in Japan in 2021.”

Robert Buckland added, “Devastating news for our community.

I will work with Justin Tomlinson, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Swindon Council, the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership, unions and other agencies to support everyone affected in the months ahead.”

However, there were those who were quick to point the finger at the government’s failure to properly execute the Brexit strategy as the reason for Honda to be pulling out of the UK.

“Were the UK to stay in the EU, Honda would undoubtedly continue to make cars in the UK. The EU-Japan trade deal would ensure that,” said Anthony Glees, a professor of politics at the University of Buckingham.

Of course Honda’s decision is Brexit related in both an immediate and deeper sense.

The whole point of Brexit was to leave the single market, and Japan wants to sell into the single market.

Richard Paul Johnson added, “The Japan-EU trade deal means that Japanese car makers no longer need the UK as a hub for entry into the EU.

They can centralise production in Japan, saving money, and access EU markets as before.

The reality of trade deals is that they globalise trade, rather than regionalise.”

“I worked for a big Japanese corporation in the early 1990s,” recalled Andrew Cross.