|
|
|
|
South Marston, Swindon, Celebrates 2-millionth Honda
|
|
By GT at 2008-02-25 19:21
|
£80m investment tops day of achievement
This week marks Honda’s celebration of the two millionth car from its Swindon car production facility. The silver CR-V is scheduled for production tomorrow evening (21 February 2008) nearly 16 years after car manufacturing began in October 1992. Today, the company announced substantial new investment, showing further commitment to its UK manufacturing operations.
Building on its 22 year history, Honda of the UK Manufacturing Ltd (HUM) is investing a further £80 million to upgrade and improve manufacturing processes. This includes:- £20 million into Plastic Operations which started mass production in January 2008 – capable of moulding and painting 1300 sets of bumpers for Civic and CR-V each day.
- £16 million into a new casting facility employing the Honda patented process of ASCT (advanced semi-solid casting technology). This unique new process will enable HUM to independently cast diesel blocks, a process which, until now, has only been carried out at Honda in Japan.
- A further £50 million being invested in welding and paint production technology, increasing efficiency and production flexibility.
Honda’s Swindon plant has shown a 25 per cent increase in production volume over the last 18 months, with the company’s UK sales operation breaking through the
100,000 sales barrier for the first time in 2007. Currently just under 30 per cent of Swindon production goes to the UK market.
In 2007, HUM produced 237,783 cars and in 2008 is planning to make 236,000. Whilst Honda is experiencing tough European market conditions, sales increases of more than 20 per cent in Russia and new markets such as Australia and South Africa are helping to offset the reduced demand in some Western European countries. HUM now exports the Civic and CR-V to over 60 countries. To adapt to the changing sales demand, HUM production rates are being adjusted from April 2008 to match the market requirement.
David Hodgetts, Director at HUM, said: “We are extremely proud of our workforce here in Swindon. This major milestone demonstrates the scale of our achievement since our operations began nearly 22 years ago. This fresh investment will enable Honda to improve overall competitiveness and increase the level of localised manufacture in Swindon. HUM’s growth in the UK has provided many opportunities for our Associates and we will continue to place a major focus on the development of existing Associates as well as providing additional opportunities for careers in engineering, procurement, finance and HR.”
Ken Keir, Senior Vice President of Honda Motor Europe, said: “The fact that there are over two million happy customers driving Swindon built Honda cars is testament to our Associates’ commitment and is a great accomplishment.”
|
|
|
|
All times are GMT +1. The time now is 12:00 PM.
