Honda revealed today the it has begun rolling out the new Civic at its UK plant in Swindon, which returned to its normal production rates after a disruption due to lack of parts caused by the Thai floods.
The president of Honda Motor Europe, Manabu Nishimae, said: “The last three years have been extremely difficult for all of Honda’s European operations. We have faced many challenges beginning with the economic downturn to the two natural disasters in Japan and Thailand. Throughout this period associates have remained committed and I am extremely proud of how they have responded to these challenges.”
Nishimae added that the Japanese carmaker remains committed to manufacturing cars in Europe with the Honda UK Manufacturing (HUM) plant in Swindon as its base. He also said that he expects a significant increase in production in 2012 and as a result, the company intends to hire 500 more employees.
HUM Director, Andy Piatek, confirmed that Car Plant 2 would return to a two-shift operation in late spring next year, creating the need for new jobs.
Honda has big plans for 2012 in Europe: apart from the 9th generation Civic and the Jazz supermini, the new CR-V crossover and a new small diesel engine will also be produced at Swindon. The Japanese carmaker expects HUM production to double next year to 180,000 units.
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