Honda to shut UK car plant in 2022 with the loss of 3,500 jobs

[webfact]

Honda to shut UK car plant in 2022 with the loss of 3,500 jobs

By Costas Pitas and Guy Faulconbridge

 

A lorry with car carrier trailer leaves the Honda car plant in Swindon, Britain, February 18, 2019. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Japanese car maker Honda is set to announce it's closing its only British car plant in 2022 with the loss of 3,500 jobs, a lawmaker told Reuters, in the latest blow to the UK car industry as Brexit approaches.

 

A closure of Honda's Swindon factory in southern England would be its second plant shuttering in 2022. The automaker said more than a year ago it will close one of its Japan plants in 2022, in an effort to consolidate production as it focuses on new vehicle technologies.

 

Honda built over 160,000 vehicles at Swindon, where it makes the hatchback version of its popular Civic model, accounting for a little more than 10 percent of Britain's total output of 1.52 million cars.

 

But it has struggled in Europe in recent years, and the industry faces a number of challenges including declining diesel vehicle demand and tougher regulations alongside the uncertainty over Britain's departure from the European Union, due next month.

 

Justin Tomlinson, a Conservative lawmaker for Swindon who voted for Brexit in 2016, said he had met with the business minister and representatives from Honda who had confirmed the plans.

 

"They were due to make a statement tomorrow morning, it's obviously broken early," Tomlinson, lawmaker for North Swindon, told Reuters.

 

"This is not Brexit-related. It is a reflection of the global market. They are seeking to consolidate production in Japan."

 

Honda said it would not be providing any comment on the "speculation".

 

"We take our responsibilities to our associates very seriously and will always communicate any significant news with them first," the firm said.

 

Honda announced in October 2017 it would stop making vehicles at its Sayama plant in Japan by 2022 as it grapples with a shrinking domestic market.

 

Like many of its global rivals, Honda is trying to streamline its operations as it invests heavily to develop electric vehicles and self-driving cars, transforming itself from simply a manufacturer of cars into a mobility company.

 

Japan has repeatedly warned it could pull investments in Britain, which it had seen as a gateway into Europe, if London does not secure a Brexit deal favorable for trade.

 

The recently agreed EU-Japan trade agreement means tariffs on cars from Japan to the continent will be eliminated, while Britain is struggling to make progress on talks over post-Brexit trade relations with Tokyo.

 

NISSAN'S MOVE

Honda's announcement would come just over two weeks after bigger Japanese car maker Nissan canceled plans to build its X-Trail sport utility vehicle in Britain.

 

In January, Britain's biggest automaker Jaguar Land Rover said it would cut 10 percent of its workforce, mainly at home, due to sluggish sales to China and a slump in European diesel demand.

 

"The car industry in the UK over the last two decades has been the jewel in the crown for the manufacturing sector – and now it has been brought low by the chaotic Brexit uncertainty," said Des Quinn, national officer for the automotive sector at Unite, Britain's biggest trade union.

 

Honda said last month it would shut its British operations for six days in April to help counter any border disruption from Brexit. It was also preparing to front-load some production at its plant to ship overseas or build up inventories.

 

Nissan, Honda and a third Japanese car maker, Toyota Motor Corp, together account for roughly half of the cars built in Britain.

 

Honda, which has been building more cars for sale outside of Europe in recent years, said earlier this month its production volumes at Swindon would be reduced to 570 cars per day and that it would make job cuts.

 

"This reduction in volume will not have any impact on our permanent resource levels, and is in line with our current production plans," the company said.

 

(Additional reporting by Alistair Smout and William Schomberg; Naomi Tajitsu in Tokyo; Editing by Mark Potter, David Evans and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

 

 -- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2019-02-19

 

[tomacht8]

The Brexit has not been the only factor in the decision, but an important element in the decision-making chain.

 

However, significantly more jobs are affected in the supply chain and in the location itself (hotels, restaurants, ...).

 

Dyson could have developed his electric car in cooperation with Honda in the UK, but he prefers Singapore for that. Let's see which car makers will stay in the UK.

Brexit at all is/was not helpfull here.

[Chomper Higgot]

Oops!

[Bluespunk]

37 minutes ago, webfact said:

This is not Brexit-related. It is a reflection of the global market. They are seeking to consolidate production in Japan."

Justin Tomlinson, a Conservative lawmaker for Swindon who voted for Brexit in 2016

 

 

Keep telling yourself that, Justin...

 

You never know, if you keep repeating it, you might actually start to believe it.

[Lucius verus]

You can see aerial pics of tens of thousands of new cars ' parked ' in old airports in UK & Spain rotting. No buyers.There are dozens of these car lots around the globe. You wonder what lies ahead.

[allane]

Brexit means Brexit.  That's not the only thing it means.

[brexiteer]

3 minutes ago, allane said:

Brexit means Brexit.  That's not the only thing it means.

 

 

Nothing to do with Brexit, read the full story......... not something Remoaners are traditionally adept at.

 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-politics-47283901/mp-honda-closure-nothing-to-do-with-brexit

[PJPom]

A simple fact of life, the man who put the badge on the Ford Focus in Australia was paid over $1000 per week ( 25,000 baht at the time). The worker also enjoyed penalty rates, sick leave, maternity leave, bereavement leave and numerous other expensive benefits which made labour the most expensive part of car costs.

Ford abandoned assembly in Australia and imported Focus from Thailand where a man put the badge on for 2500 baht per week, had few benefits and actually worked.

More and more manufacturing companies will leave the higher paid areas as they need a profit, can we blame them?.

[stevenl]

28 minutes ago, brexiteer said:

 

 

Nothing to do with Brexit, read the full story......... not something Remoaners are traditionally adept at.

 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-politics-47283901/mp-honda-closure-nothing-to-do-with-brexit

According top the brexiteer that gave the interview.

Forbes and others disagree with that point of view, https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewcave/2019/02/18/honda-to-close-sole-european-plant-is-brexit-the-end-for-britains-car-industry/#5314eae77a47 .

 

[steve187]

1 hour ago, tomacht8 said:

The Brexit has not been the only factor in the decision, but an important element in the decision-making chain.

 

However, significantly more jobs are affected in the supply chain and in the location itself (hotels, restaurants, ...).

 

Dyson could have developed his electric car in cooperation with Honda in the UK, but he prefers Singapore for that. Let's see which car makers will stay in the UK.

Brexit at all is/was not helpfull here.

maybe no one wanting diesel cars in Europe is the reason, and very little if anything to do with Brexit

 

did brexit also effect these figures, In 2008, the Swindon site produced 230,423 cars. By 2016 annual unit production was down to 134,146 units

[vogie]

24 minutes ago, stevenl said:

According top the brexiteer that gave the interview.

Forbes and others disagree with that point of view, https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewcave/2019/02/18/honda-to-close-sole-european-plant-is-brexit-the-end-for-britains-car-industry/#5314eae77a47 .

 

As Autocar states, brexit is not the key reason, there are more important issues.

 

You have to consider the decline in demand for diesel too: Honda’s Swindon engine plant produced diesel engines. Then there’s the ever-growing rise in popularity of SUVs, which is harming sales of traditional cars such as the Civic – the only model made in Swindon.

And you can’t ignore global trade, such as Donald Trump’s threat to impose huge tariffs on cars imported from Europe into the US – such as the Civic. At the same time, the European Union and Japan recently agreed a trade deal that effectively removes tariffs on Japanese-built cars imported into Europe. That reduces Honda’s need to have a European manufacturing base.

There’s also Honda itself. The firm continues to struggle in Europe, with sales markedly down on a decade ago. Last year it sold just under 135,000 cars in the European market, a three per cent decline on 2017 – and around half its sales of a decade ago.

[Rally123]

7 minutes ago, brexiteer said:

Nothing to do with Brexit, read the full story......... not something Remoaners are traditionally adept at.

Where was Brexit when all the car/motorcycle factories in Coventry closed? Jaguar, Daimler, Humber, Triumph, Rover, Alvis the list goes on. Did the people of Coventry bitch about who's fault caused it? No, they just moved on in life. I suggest Remoaners do the same.

 

 

Quote

 

A

• Academy (automobile)
• Albatros (automobile)
• Allard & Co
• Alvis Car and Engineering Company
• Arden (automobile)
• Armstrong Siddeley
• Arno (automobile)
• Autovia

B

• Billings-Burns
• Broadway (cyclecar)
• Browns Lane plant

C

• Calcott Brothers
• Carbodies
• Challenge (cycle and car)
• Charlesworth Bodies
• Chota (automobile)
• Chrysler Europe
• Clément Motor Company
• Cluley
• Coventry Climax
• The Coventry Motor Company
• Coventry Premier
• Coventry-Eagle
• Coventry-Victor
• Crouch Cars

D

• Dawson Car Company

E

• Excelsior Motor Company

F

• Francis-Barnett

G

• The Great Horseless Carriage Company
• Grindlay Peerless

H

• Hazlewoods Limited
• Hillman
• Holbrook Bodies
• Humber Limited

I

• Iden

J

• Jaguar Land Rover

L

• Lea-Francis
• Lee Stroyer

M

• Maudslay Motor Company
• Modec
• Montgomery Motorcycles
• Motor Manufacturing Company

N

• Nuffield Tools and Gauges

R

• Riley Motor

S

• Siddeley-Deasy
• Singer Motors
• SS Cars
• Standard Motor Company
• Swallow Sidecar Company
• Swift Motor Company

T

• Triumph Engineering
• Triumph Motor Company

W

• White and Poppe
• Wigan-Barlow

 

•  

[stevenl]

9 minutes ago, vogie said:

As Autocar states, brexit is not the key reason, there are more important issues.

 

You have to consider the decline in demand for diesel too: Honda’s Swindon engine plant produced diesel engines. Then there’s the ever-growing rise in popularity of SUVs, which is harming sales of traditional cars such as the Civic – the only model made in Swindon.

And you can’t ignore global trade, such as Donald Trump’s threat to impose huge tariffs on cars imported from Europe into the US – such as the Civic. At the same time, the European Union and Japan recently agreed a trade deal that effectively removes tariffs on Japanese-built cars imported into Europe. That reduces Honda’s need to have a European manufacturing base.

There’s also Honda itself. The firm continues to struggle in Europe, with sales markedly down on a decade ago. Last year it sold just under 135,000 cars in the European market, a three per cent decline on 2017 – and around half its sales of a decade ago.

From autocar ' Is Brexit uncertainty a factor? Almost certainly. '. A pity you left out that part of your balanced view. And to be exact, the article states 'But it’s not the only reason – or the key reason, in this case, so completely different from your statement 'there are more important issues'.

Please quote honestly.

[elliss]

 

        The  Great escape , from great britain , continues.

 

 

[tomacht8]

36 minutes ago, steve187 said:

maybe no one wanting diesel cars in Europe is the reason, and very little if anything to do with Brexit

 

did brexit also effect these figures, In 2008, the Swindon site produced 230,423 cars. By 2016 annual unit production was down to 134,146 units

It makes a difference whether a company has to reduce its production or completely shut down production and relocate production. 

A somewhat balanced view of things makes sense, otherwise we are only in the field of faith and hope. Brexit and the planning uncertainty is a factor in the decision to close the UK manufacturing facility. Demand decline, cost structures, diesel problems are also factors.

[vogie]

18 minutes ago, stevenl said:

From autocar ' Is Brexit uncertainty a factor? Almost certainly. '. A pity you left out that part of your balanced view. And to be exact, the article states 'But it’s not the only reason – or the key reason, in this case, so completely different from your statement 'there are more important issues'.

Please quote honestly.

I did quote honestly, sorry you didn't like it. Maybe some people should stop blaming everything on brexit.

[stevenl]

3 minutes ago, vogie said:

I did quote honestly, sorry you didn't like it. Maybe some people should stop blaming everything on brexit.

Nothing to do with liking or not. By leaving out the part where autocar says Brexit plays a part in the decision, and by saying that autocar states that there are more important issues when what they said is 'But it’s not the only reason – or the key reason, in this case, ', your quotes are dishonest.

[sanemax]

28 minutes ago, stevenl said:

From autocar ' Is Brexit uncertainty a factor? Almost certainly. '. A pity you left out that part of your balanced view. And to be exact, the article states 'But it’s not the only reason – or the key reason, in this case, so completely different from your statement 'there are more important issues'.

Please quote honestly.

That is from "autocar" though .

Why not listen to what Honda say themselves , rather than listen to a third party ?

Honda are moving all their vehicle production back to Japan .

Japan signed a trade deal with Europe , which means that Honda no longer needs to build cars in Europe .

  Honda would have moved back to Japan, regardless of Brexit 

[sanemax]

5 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Nothing to do with liking or not. By leaving out the part where autocar says Brexit plays a part in the decision, and by saying that autocar states that there are more important issues when what they said is 'But it’s not the only reason – or the key reason, in this case, ', your quotes are dishonest.

OK, why would Brexit play a part in Hondas decision to relocate back to Japan ?

Ask "autocar" to explain the relation between Brexit and Honda going home to Japan

[tomacht8]

1. Planning uncertainty: Yes Brexit induced.

2. Cost increases: Yes Brexit induced by threatening tariffs.

3. Production flow uncertainty: Yes Brexit induced by additional customs clearance bureaucracy.

4. Sales market disabilities: Yes Brexit induced by reduction of potential buyers.

5. Unrest in the workforce and increasing xenophobia.: Yes Brexit induced.

6. Diesel problem: Not Brexit induced.

 

The sum gives the result of the decision of Honda.

[stevenl]

12 minutes ago, sanemax said:

That is from "autocar" though .

Why not listen to what Honda say themselves , rather than listen to a third party ?

Honda are moving all their vehicle production back to Japan .

Japan signed a trade deal with Europe , which means that Honda no longer needs to build cars in Europe .

  Honda would have moved back to Japan, regardless of Brexit 

Yes, that is from autocar because a poster claimed that the autocar article was proof there was no brexit relation. The autocar article claims differently though, so his posting was dishonest. The article also explains.

AFAIK Honda has not announced anything yet.

[sammieuk1]

Never thought I would see my home town with so much bad news in one day there are at least 5 jobs to 1 in the supply chain at the time I worked there for a few weeks diving Accords and Civics around the test track it was and I think still is the south wests biggest employer but it looks like a classic case of face shooting voting Brexit for the Swindonian despite all this bull about its nothing to do with Brexit and the dire warning the Honda management issued on crashing out two months ago????   

[vogie]

14 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Yes, that is from autocar because a poster claimed that the autocar article was proof there was no brexit relation. The autocar article claims differently though, so his posting was dishonest. The article also explains.

AFAIK Honda has not announced anything yet.

You are being dishonest, I never stated the article was proof. I stated that brexit wasn't the key reason, inferring that there may be a connection, if you want to be pedantic that is your concern.

[CharlieH]

reported post removed

[Chomper Higgot]

Look on the bright side, unemployed former Honda workers could be put through a de-Skilling course and re-employed to restart the UK’s production of the Leyland Princess.

 

The Commonwealth are gagging to buy British Leyland cars again.

 

[Chomper Higgot]

1 hour ago, tomacht8 said:

1. Planning uncertainty: Yes Brexit induced.

2. Cost increases: Yes Brexit induced by threatening tariffs.

3. Production flow uncertainty: Yes Brexit induced by additional customs clearance bureaucracy.

4. Sales market disabilities: Yes Brexit induced by reduction of potential buyers.

5. Unrest in the workforce and increasing xenophobia.: Yes Brexit induced.

6. Diesel problem: Not Brexit induced.

 

The sum gives the result of the decision of Honda.

Add: Japan/EU free trade agreement in place.

 

 

[Baerboxer]

2 hours ago, vogie said:

As Autocar states, brexit is not the key reason, there are more important issues.

 

You have to consider the decline in demand for diesel too: Honda’s Swindon engine plant produced diesel engines. Then there’s the ever-growing rise in popularity of SUVs, which is harming sales of traditional cars such as the Civic – the only model made in Swindon.

And you can’t ignore global trade, such as Donald Trump’s threat to impose huge tariffs on cars imported from Europe into the US – such as the Civic. At the same time, the European Union and Japan recently agreed a trade deal that effectively removes tariffs on Japanese-built cars imported into Europe. That reduces Honda’s need to have a European manufacturing base.

There’s also Honda itself. The firm continues to struggle in Europe, with sales markedly down on a decade ago. Last year it sold just under 135,000 cars in the European market, a three per cent decline on 2017 – and around half its sales of a decade ago.

 

Many reasons. But Brexit is one of those. Not the key but a reason and not something ignored or with no impact.

 

Some are trying to say that isn't the case and it's nothing to do with Brexit, which is wrong.

[sanemax]

Just now, Baerboxer said:

 

Many reasons. But Brexit is one of those. Not the key but a reason and not something ignored or with no impact.

 

Some are trying to say that isn't the case and it's nothing to do with Brexit, which is wrong.

May I ask, are you a Remainer or a Brexiter ?

[keemapoot]

2 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Many reasons. But Brexit is one of those. Not the key but a reason and not something ignored or with no impact.

 

Some are trying to say that isn't the case and it's nothing to do with Brexit, which is wrong.

Of course Brexit is a key reason, but not the only one. A key consequence is that once you de-link your country from the tariff-favored membership of the various auto parts suppliers supply chain in Europe, you are no longer competitive as a production base for this company.

 

The same thing will likely happen in stages with Airbus and many other companies.

[sanemax]

7 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Many reasons. But Brexit is one of those. Not the key but a reason and not something ignored or with no impact.

 

Some are trying to say that isn't the case and it's nothing to do with Brexit, which is wrong.

If Brexit came into the equation , if their decision had anything at all to do with Brexit, they would have waited a few more weeks to see the outcome and THEN made a decision .

   The fact that they decided a few weeks BEFORE Brexit , shows Brexit had nothing to do with their decision