Honda’s departure adds to the gloom enveloping Britain’s car industry

WORKERS AT HONDA’s car plant near Swindon, in Wiltshire, were told not to report for work on February 19th. It was a bitter foretaste of an uncertain future. The previous day news leaked out that the factory will close in 2021. This will cost 3,500 jobs at Honda, and at least another 3,500 among its suppliers. Greg Clark, the business secretary, called it a “devastating” blow, not only to Swindon, where Honda is one of the largest employers, but to British industry as a whole.

The announcement was a shock, as Honda had earlier promised to remain committed to Britain. But it follows a slew of bad news for the country’s car industry, which has a turnover of £82bn ($105bn), employs 186,000 people directly and accounts for 12% of Britain’s goods exports. Earlier this month Nissan, another Japanese carmaker, said it would shift production of the latest version of its x-Trail, an SUV, from Sunderland to Japan. Ford is scaling back engine production in Bridgend, in Wales. In January JLR, Britain’s biggest carmaker, confirmed 4,500 job cuts. Michelin, a tyremaker, is to close a factory in Dundee by 2020. Schaeffler, a German car-parts maker, is closing two factories, at Llanelli in Wales and Plymouth, with the loss of 500 jobs. Inward investment into Britain’s car industry fell by half in 2018.