JAPANESE CARMAKER HONDA is to close its plant in Swindon, England, in 2022 which will put over 3,500 jobs at risk, according to multiple reports in the UK. 

Sky News and the BBC have reported that its manufacturing plant will close in Swindon but its European HQ will remain in the UK. 

Honda produces more than 100,000 Civic cars for the global market. 

Ian Howells, Honda Europe’s senior vice-president, told the BBC in September: “The UK forms part of our global network of manufacturing plants, so the only place we produce the vehicle we produce at Swindon is in Swindon itself.

“The logistics of moving a factory the size of Swindon would be huge and as far as we’re concerned, we’re right behind supporting continued production at Swindon.”

In 2015, Honda said it was spending £200 million to upgrade the British factory that the Japanese automaker downsized last year owing to a slump in European demand.

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The company said at the time it was aiming to turn its Swindon plant in western England into a global production hub for its five-door Civic compact.