6.9.2012 Honda to invest £267 million in UK plant

Honda today marks the launch of the new CR-V model as part of a £267 million investment programme into new models and engines at its Swindon, UK plant.

Representing the single biggest investment into Honda‘s UK manufacturing in over a decade, the funding will support the introduction of the new Civic (launched in December 2011), the new CR-V (launched today), and the new 1.6 litre diesel engine for Honda Civic (due in December 2012).

500 new staff - or Associates as they are known - have been recruited and trained this year to build these new products, taking the total workforce to 3,500. By the end of the year, production at the Swindon plant is forecast to have doubled on last year’s figure, up to 183,000 units. Honda aims to increase that figure to 250,000 units per year, within 3 years.

This announcement will also benefit the UK balance of trade with 60% of the production going for export. Honda’s Swindon plant produces cars and engines for over 60 countries around the world, including Europe, Middle East, Africa and Australia.

On his visit to the Honda site, Business Secretary, Vince Cable, commented: “this multi-million pound investment by Honda in its twentieth year of car production in the UK is great news for Swindon and the automotive sector. Having created a host of new jobs, the investment supports Government’s ambition to encourage new investment and exports as a route to renewed growth and a more balanced economy.”

Dave Hodgetts, Managing Director of Honda UK added: “this investment programme underpins Honda’s commitment to manufacturing in Britain and to our UK workforce. It also reaffirms the Swindon plant’s position as the cornerstone of Honda’s European operations, as it has been for over 20 years.”

Honda