Honda’s flagship production facility in Europe, Honda of the UK Manufacturing (HUM), Swindon, UK, will become a global production hub for the next generation Civic five-door model, as Honda continues to develop its global production network to maximize the efficiency and quality of its manufacturing operations.
The five-door Civic will be produced for the European market as well as being exported to key global markets. Furthermore, by developing the European facility into a global manufacturing hub for this model, HUM will increase Civic production volumes whilst developing improved economies of scale. The skills, knowledge and experience accrued by Honda Associates since Civic production began at HUM over 20 years ago, will play an important role as it specializes in the production of the Civic model.
Honda will invest over £200m (US$295m) into new, advanced production technologies and processes, further enhancing Honda’s European manufacturing facilities. This new contribution brings Honda’s total investment in HUM to over £2.2bn (US$3.2bn) since 1985.
“By establishing HUM as a global production facility for the Civic five door, Honda is demonstrating its long-term commitment to manufacturing in the UK and Europe. This is incredibly important for HUM and is a reward for the commitment and effort put in by Honda Associates in recent years,” says Jason Smith, director of HUM.
“As a global production facility for the Civic five-door model we look forward to making the most of the opportunity to export this model not only to our European customers, but also, to key global markets.”
As HUM develops into a specialist Civic production facility, the next generation CR-V will be manufactured at Honda of Canada Manufacturing (HCM), in Ontario, and imported to Europe.
April 1, 2015