Honda confirms Swindon plant closure

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• Louise - 19/02/2019 11:13

  A sad day for vehicle manufacturing in the UK and all those employeed by Honda in Swindon and those who are impacted by this decision.

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• Daedalus - 19/02/2019 13:08

  Mr Inoue's explanation for the Swindon plant closure seems to have profound implications for the size of the car market post-electrification. If Honda expect to be able to do without Swindon, what other manufacturers are also planning similar capacity reductions to be ready for the probable volume and ownership dynamics of a market dominated by EVs?

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• Devon Guy - 19/02/2019 17:37

  Heartfelt sympathies to all affected by this miserable news. There is more than a hint of cruel similarity to the demise the railway industry, in Swindon, in the last century. I’m sure there is a feeling of betrayal, in Swindon, as I seem to recall this site was one of the most efficient plants in the world at one stage. As I type this on my Chinese made laptop, sat on a Swedish branded chair (made in Vietnam), wearing UK branded clothes (made in Indonesia), listening to music on my American branded but Chinese made mobile phone, I wonder why nobody supports British industry any more…! The answer of course, is cost, quality and the effects of globalisation. The hint in this sentence, is that it is no longer cost effective to make anything in western Europe or the US. In the words of indie pop vetrans, Echo and the Bunnymen, “Nothing ever lasts for ever” and never were that ever truer in the cold hard free market globalised world in which we live. Back in the 1980s the government of the time “incentivised” Honda to set up shop in the UK to avoid inter-Europe import tariffs. A move that frustrated many of “our European friends” and even more of the big manufacturers. Bring it up to date and one could be cynical and suggest, the EU would have been fully aware that the consequences of significantly reducing trading tariffs between Japan and Europe would be for manufacturing resource to be redeployed back towards the east. But then, maybe the EU aren’t too worried about the UK’s economic plight in a post-Brexit world. However, it is increasingly looking like the decision to close the plant is little to do with Brexit. Honda is indeed economic with the words when they reference the decision being due to changing global markets. What that means is that most of the sales growth is in China and the far east; the diminution of the trade barriers now means manufacturing costs, makes relocation of manufacturing to the far east an economic necessity to ensure organisational survival. Add to that reduced labour regulation and the lower environmental standards (important with all those nasty chemicals, toxins and acids associated with large-scale battery production) in some countries and it really is a no-brainer to relocate. One presumes such incentives might also have influenced James Dyson in making his new electric car in Indonesia (note a similar tariff agreement has been agreed between Indonesia and the EU). Unfortunately, Britain is in decline, we need to find alternative industries fast, or face a very rapid economic decay. This isn’t just about cars….

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