Honda CONFIRMS Swindon Closure in 2021 as it plans an ELECTRIC future

Honda has confirmed it is closing it plant in Swindon in 2021, with the loss of 3,500 jobs, as it focuses on an electric car future.

Yesterday we reported that Honda is planning to close its only European Plant, in Swindon, in 2022, and today Honda has confirmed the plan, although the closure will actually be in 2021.

It’s a big blow for UK car manufacturing – and an even bigger one for the Swindon workforce – but as Honda moves towards a future they expect to be based on electric cars it’s restructuring its global manufacturing. Swindon is just a casualty of that. Harsh, but true.

Honda has been clear the closure is nothing to do with Brexit, but it is an inevitable consequence of the loss of love for diesel-engined cars and a need to restructure its production to meet the challenge.

There is also no doubt it has a lot to do with the recent free trade deal between Japan and the EU, which will see tariffs on Japanese imports in to the EU reduce to zero in the coming years. So why have a European production base, especially when Swindon is already running at only half capacity?

Katsushi Inoue, Honda’s Head of European Operations, 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.