Honda sells its UK factory to logistics giant Panattoni

Honda has agreed to sell its only British car plant to logistics giant Panattoni, a Honda spokesman announced on March 27. The latter plans to invest heavily in the factory in Swindon (Swindon) in southern England, the report said.

In 2019, Honda announced that the Swindon plant would stop production, and the company made the decision to sell the plant two years later. Production at the plant will officially end in July, when Honda will stop operations altogether. The closure of the factory is expected to lead to the loss of 3500 jobs. Honda accounts for about 1/10 of Britain's annual production of about 1.5 million cars.

Honda, which is struggling in Europe, said the decision to close the Swindon plant had nothing to do with Britain leaving the EU and said it was to focus on areas with good vehicle sales. Honda's sales in the EU, UK and EFTA markets fell 49 per cent to 3393 vehicles in February, with a market share of 0.4 per cent, according to (ACEA), the European carmakers' association.

According to previous reports, Panattoni said it would invest £700m ($965 million) in logistics-related development projects to create new jobs after the Honda plant, which produces Civic (Civic), was officially shut down.

Prior to this, a number of companies have changed their development plans in the UK. Electronics companies Sony and Panasonic both decided to move their headquarters from the UK to EU countries, while Hitachi cancelled a nuclear power project in the country during Brexit.