Honda has announced an £80 million investment in its manufacturing plant in Swindon. The extra money is to be spent upgrading the paint shop and plastics operation, and will include £16 million for casting diesel engine blocks - a process only Honda Japan has undertaken to date.
The announcement will take Honda's total investment in Swindon to £1.38 billion. The company's operations on the site began 22 years ago and today the plant produces nearly 240,000 cars a year, with two million Hondas having rolled off Swindon's production lines in total.
The operation is also a huge export success, with 70% of their UK-built CR-V and Civic models destined for more than 60 export markets worldwide.
Ken Kier, senior vice president of Honda Europe, said: "This is a testament to the quality and commitment of 5,000 associates at Swindon and the quality of our component suppliers in the UK and abroad."
"Swindon will continue to be the heart of our European manufacturing operations in the future," he confirmed.
The good news for Swindon follows last month’s announcement of up to 800 new jobs to support a third production shift at Nissan's UK plant in Sunderland.
The boost for jobs comes on the back of the success of the Qashqai model, made at the plant.
Chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) Paul Everitt commented: "Once again a highly-skilled British workforce has shown it can hold its own and that UK car making is alive and well," he added.
The news is confirmation of the statement in today's Budget that, contrary to the scare stories put about a few years ago by those misguided few who wanted us to join the euro, Britain continues to attract large flows of in inward foreign investment.
According to the Budget report, the UK remains the top European recipient of inward direct investment and second in the world only to the USA.
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