Honda invests £267m in UK plant
Japanese carmaker Honda is giving its Swindon plant a £267m cash boost to replace robotics and upgrade production methods, as part of the firm’s plans to ramp up production. The auto giant’s announcement yesterday is a welcome boost for the Wiltshire-based factory, which has seen funding reduced in recent years due to poor sales. Part of the £267m is thought to be going towards new production equipment, and towards the introduction of new models. Honda, which has seen three consecutive years of losses in Europe, is planning to reach the factory’s capacity of 250,000 vehicles each year by 2016. Around 60 per cent of production from the Swindon plant will be exported, predominantly to countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Australia.