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posted by martyb on Tuesday February 19 2019, @06:49PM   Printer-friendly
from the civic-minded? dept.

Honda Confirms Plan to Leave Britain as Brexit Looms

The Japanese automaker Honda has become the latest business to make plans to leave Britain as global forces reshape the car industry and the country prepares to exit the European Union.

Honda will close its plant in Swindon, England, which employs 3,500 workers, by 2021, it confirmed on Tuesday. The factory, which produces about 150,000 cars a year, will close once its current line of Civic cars comes to an end.

"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," Katsushi Inoue, the chief officer for European operations, said in a statement.

The decision was a "devastating decision for Swindon and the U.K.," Greg Clark, Britain's business secretary, said in a statement. "The news is a particularly bitter blow to the thousands of skilled and dedicated staff who work at the factory, their families and all of those employed in the supply chain," Mr. Clark said, adding that he would convene a "task force" to keep the employees in work.

Also at CNN.


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  • (Score: 2) by janrinok on Tuesday February 19 2019, @07:35PM (2 children)

    by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 19 2019, @07:35PM (#803630) Journal
    The quoted article is actually dated yesterday while the company announcement was this morning (19 Feb). I suspect the article contains some speculation rather than reporting what Honda's statement actually said. Still, I'm sure there will be plenty here who will with to blame it on Brexit.
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 20 2019, @07:22PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 20 2019, @07:22PM (#804143)

    Or, you know, it could be that the story (from the EU) and the announcement (from Japan) we're in different time zones.

    • (Score: 2) by janrinok on Wednesday February 20 2019, @08:09PM

      by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday February 20 2019, @08:09PM (#804181) Journal
      Except that the first announcement was made in the UK, and not in Japan.