Sayonara: Honda Moving Part Of Its UK Production Back To Japan In 2021

Honda has decided to move some of its production from its soon to be shut down Swindon plant in the UK to Japan.

According to Nikkei, Honda will go on to build its Civic model at a plant in Yorii, northwest of Tokyo, next year. Furthermore, the UK, which is set to leave the European Union, and Japan are looking to drop tariffs on cars all the way down to zero by the year 2026.

The current tariff on vehicles coming into the EU from Japan is 7.5%, but with the UK leaving the block, that figure would rise to 10% if nobody does anything.

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Last year, a total of 11% of the Swindon’s plant output reached the UK market, with 6% getting shipped to Japan. Nearly 70% was of course destined for the United States.

The reason why the Yorii plant was chosen was not only because of the potential for zero tariffs, but also for the goal of raising the factory’s utilization rate.

With the UK being Europe’s second largest market after Germany, it’s important to point out that cars made by Japanese brands account for nearly 20% of the British market. Honda sold roughly 40,000 cars in the UK last year, representing 1/3 of its total sales for Europe.

This move by Honda somewhat mirrors what Nissan did in 2019 when instead of building its next-gen X-Trail crossover in the United Kingdom, they decided to make it at their Kyushu factory in Japan.