https://www.ft.com/content/77220374-3416-11e9-bd3a-8b2a211d90d5 Honda is shutting down a plant in the UK and it's not Brexit. I am not sure whether to be happy or sad that the company is giving the reason as the rise of electric cars and a small market share in Europe. I suppose that in the spirit of "There's no such thing as bad publicity" this might provide a boost for the concept of electric cars, but it's also going to create some bad feelings. I would like to think that this move demonstrates Honda's commitment to the technology, but it sure is hard to believe given their lack of support of the Clarity.
Are the Claritys selling well in the UK ? Which models do this plant make ?? I heard that the closure of the UK plant in 2022 will be bringing back the production line back to Japan. They said about 10% of the EU cars are made in Swindon, England. Since our US Clarity are made in Saitama, Japan, I wonder if the UK line is the similar type of electrified models produced ?
They make Civic hatchback there, maybe other models. They sell very few cars in Europe (about 1 or 2 months of what they sell in the US).. However the main reason I read was that EU and Japan signed a new trade agreement, but UK was not part of the agreement since they were planning to exit EU.
The party line from Honda on this is that Brexit is not the reason, but I can't help but think that it's a contributing factor. The plant mentioned above to close in 2022 is the one closing now.
Might it have to also do with favorable trading between Japan and the US under the Trump import / export taxes ??
I suppose that there are many factors, and that the "party line" that Honda provided may not be emphasizing the important ones. But it seems pretty logical to position your manufacturing facilities close to where you're selling the product, and they're not doing well in the UK. I'm assuming [yes, I know what that word means] that they've tried to address their poor performance in the UK market and they're effectively now throwing in the towel. Resources are always limited and if "Sell cars in the UK" really isn't that important, it's time to redirect the resources to something else.
