Honda has expressed a show of faith in the British car building industry by pouring an additional £200 million investment into its plant in Swindon.
Regardless of which way the upcoming EU referendum goes, and with the possibility of a Brexit looming, the Japanese carmaker has nonetheless demonstrated its commitment to the UK.
In total, Honda has now spent £2 billion on the factory, and the extra investment will be put to use preparing for global production of the upcoming new Civic hatchback.
New British-built Civic
A prototype version of the Civic was unveiled earlier this year, featuring a sportier appearance to appeal to younger buyers, and it will also go on sale in the US for the first time in five-door guise.
The new Civic will be built at the Swindon factory and pre-production for the upcoming model has already taken place, with full production due to start from this summer onwards.
Phil Webb, Honda UK’s head of cars, said: “We’ve made a decision on the global production run of Civic in Swindon and there’s no reason to believe that is going to change.”
'Long-term commitment' to the UK
A potential Brexit has left several big car manufacturers which operate in the UK, including the BMW Group, concerned, but Honda stresses that it will continue operations in Britain regardless.
Philip Crossman, Honda UK’s managing director, said: “By establishing Honda UK Manufacturing as a global production facility for the all-new Civic hatchback, Honda is demonstrating its long-term commitment to manufacturing in the UK and Europe.
“Hopefully the £200 million investment will secure jobs in Swindon and if the five-door Civic takes off in America it could see Swindon working at full capacity.”
Due to enter production in Swindon later this year, the all-new Honda Civic is due to be released globally by January 2017.