Mass production of Japanese Honda’s Civic model at the firm’s Swindon factory in Wiltshire has hit the road, and is the first model to be manufactured in a UK factory without being made before in any Japanese industrial unit.
Targeting the European audience, Honda hopes to have more than 35,000 Civic cars riding on UK streets next year. This new model of Civic was put up for show as an idea during the Geneva Motor Show held in March.
Moreover, Honda had another reason to rejoice with the outstanding production of 1.5 million cars at its Swindon factory. It had put in at least £1.3bn ($2.3bn) in the UK site that began functioning as a car manufacturer in 1992.
Honda anticipated the new civic to boost sales throughout Europe by as much as half, in the coming two years.
President of Honda Motor Europe, Shigeru Takagi, emphasized the significance of the car model in raising sales and said, “The British-built Civic has a key role to play as we expect to be selling 120,000 Civics in 2007, a 50% increase on current sales. For Honda's European operation, this is the most important launch in its history.”
He believed that the huge 1.5 million car production at Swindon only established the firm’s continuing belief and conviction “in UK manufacturing and Swindon, in particular, as a centre of excellence”.
The Swindon site of Honda has 4,000 employees at the factory and intends to make the new Civic model available for sale by 2006. What’s more, it is considering offering stiff competition to top names like the VW Golf and the BMW 1-series.
This year Swindon is likely to turn out around 193,000 cars, with its total manufacturing capacity being 250,000 vehicles per year.
Posted
on : Fri, 14 Oct 2005 12:20 GMT | General News
By : Chris Rowe
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