Honda staff’s worries over factory closure - Business - Evening Standard
       

Honda staff’s worries over factory closure

More than 4000 workers at Honda in Swindon are fearing for their futures today after the Japanese car manufacturer said it is closing its state-of-the-art UK factory from the end of this month until June.

Honda UK said today it is extending its planned closure of the Swindon plant though April and May.

It had already said it planned to mothball the manufacturing facility in February and March.

Honda officials have said that the company plans no redundancies and has signalled that workers will continue to get basic pay. Trade union officials have previously warned that Honda had looked at cutting jobs.

The shutdown comes after a horror year for the motor industry from which Honda has not been immune.

Latest monthly figures show Honda sales in the UK collapsing by 38%.

For 2008 as a whole UK sales of Hondas plunged below the 100,000-a-year level, down 20% to 83,000.

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