Honda Brexting

All those “Brexit has no negative impact on the economy “ believers, obviously know more about business than the bosses of those businesses

I totally agree with you crystaltips . The 3500 job losses at Honda will probably be double that in reality taking into account all the tiered suppliers who relied on work from them. We have done work in Honda over the years although thankfully they are not one of our major customers. I am now VERY worried that this is just the tip of the iceberg and there will be much worse to come. Nissan has already announced moving production of the X Trail away from Sunderland, but what next?

The collapse of the diesel market does also play a huge part (even though modern Diesel engines are far cleaner than older petrol engines).

Whether blaming brexit directly, indirectly or not at all, I felt for the Honda worker who described brexit as "An idiocy of epic proportions".
My feelings precisely!

Just the move away from diesels is not the only explanation. They could have switched to electric production if they had considered the U.K. to be an attractive proposition. Decline of diesels +the collapse of the £ ( Brexit related) + uncertainty over Brexit ( Brexit )+the U.K. being out of the single market and free trade Japan - EU( Brexit related) all together = makes more economic sense to get out of the U.K., same with Nissan, Toyota, Sony etc - maybe one of those obstacles could be dealt with, but all of them - no.

Electric production is no way near ready to take over from diesel anyway ) imagine electric buses, lorries, vans ) how big would the battery need to be to power a huge lorry even for a few miles . Where would all this extra electric come from anyway ? Oh yes that very environmentally friendly biomass shipped over from Canada ! You couldn’t make it up .

We have already seen 2 of our major customers move some of their production lines abroad . I suspect many more lines and manufacturers to follow .

lemongrove I have said that I believe that the Honda close-down is part of the global reduction of the car industry, but that Brexit will have played some part in the decision is inevitable.

Earlier this morning a commentator on the radio was discussing the damage the chaos over Brexit has caused to our trade relations with Japan, that was always pro-British and chose to place much of its EU investment in Britain. He was saying that Britain is no longer seen as a reliable trade partner, in the EU or out - and that matters - when Japanese companies come to invest in Europe in the future.

But while the reasons Honda and Nissan are closing down may be contentious, the fact remains that a number of Japanese companies have already moved their HQs, staff and some manufacturing facilities out of Britain. Panasonic was one of those named because of Brexit, and more will follow.

But as far as the subject of this thread goes. Honda is leaving Swindon, the reason is irrelevant, there is nothing that can be done about it. The big problem is the catastrophic effect it will have on possibly as many as 10,000 people's jobs in Swindon.

I’m glad you realise that the car industry is suffering globally Monica ( and within Japan in particular) because there are plenty who can only see ‘Brexit’ as a cause for everything including the weather.Things have looked dodgy for the Swindon plant for a long time, and yes, it is a great shame for the town.

I have tried to avoid the Brexit threads like the plague but this announcer from Honda is truly devastating . Whatever their reason.

Brexit cannot be to blamed for bad weather as here in the NE the bad weather lies firmly at Margaret Thatchers door . Being dead makes no difference .

Announcement

I heard some dense (polite term) person on the radio blaming the EU for the Honda plant closing. They had the audacity to make a trade deal with Japan.

It is being estimated by analyst here in the West Country that 9000 to 10000 jobs will be affected when you include those that are important through the supply chain.

Largest loss of jobs due to one closure for more than 25 years.

Apologies should be employed above not imported .

As far as I'm aware, it's been since the Referendum vote in 2016 that Japan has come to a trade deal (no tariffs) with the EU - so it is not worth their staying in the UK and paying tariffs both on component parts coming in and motor vehicles going out. Yes, there has been worldwide decline in diesel, for example, but that's been going on for quite a few years now - interesting that it's only been since the vote that so many car manufacturers are pulling out / not building new models here. Brexit may not be the only reason but it's not helpful.

It's the uncertainty that's been created by Brexit that's causing firms/manufacturers to pull out/ fold up.

There are loads of lost jobs because of Brexit - they're just not being talked about (wonder why?) One of my cousin's children used to work in the European Medicines Agency in London - now moved to Amsterdam with the loss of 900 jobs. Plenty of private companies following suit (including Panasonic) and are planning to in the future (including banks). I guess we have to ask ourselves - most big companies (and therefore big employers) will be exporting and importing from the EU - so why on earth would they choose to come to the UK (or stay in the UK) after Brexit? Sorry - but from a business POV I can't think of a single one.

A lot of things can be blamed on Brexit but Honda definitely isn’t one of them. I have a relative who works for a very large motoring body in U.K. and this move by Honda has been known about for a very long time, moving to Japan not Europe. Please all stop blaming Brexit on every change. Things don’t stay the same, and people’s car buying patterns are drastically changing. People in U.K. need to begin being more positive and believe in U.K. and what is good about it. Buy British products where possible and support business but don’t blame Honda or its workforce for this, it would have happened anyway.

Who's going to invest millions/billions in a country that's dropping to its knees-------and particularly now with both government parties in turmoil, especially with what's becoming a militant far left Labour party------as it's a well known fact than when these militants see a country struggling they're there like a shot !

EV the UK is not on its knees!!

We are still growing (albeit slowly) more than Germany and France.

No 5th richest country.

For crying out loud (my Nans fav expression) whatever goes wrong, no matter how big or small, anywhere in the world it must be the fault of Brexit is what too many people seem to be saying! Will be so glad when it is all over ?

SillyNanny321, so what is it that's causing this present turmoil ? When we were perfectly alright prior to 2016.

I agree GrannyGravy13.
Most if not all car companies are having to take a hard look at what they sell. In some ways, their production lines have been too efficient and producing too many cars for the number of people that want to buy one. Not only Honda affected - Ford has just about finished production in Australia, as has GMH, Chrysalla in the USA struggling.
Hoping that another industry moves into Swindon - it happened 30 years ago or so when the railworks closed.

Honda job losses show we have moved from ‘project fear’ to project meltdown (AKA Brexit)

www.independent.co.uk/voices/honda-job-cuts-brexit-car-manufacturing-move-eu-leave-tariffs-hunt-fox-japan-a8785246.html?fbclid=IwAR3CvCuMQv0JYzPeGsfHvVy-_5-qoUK4YIE6VdxOJ3shhAiUUEcPp3azCRE

List of Brexit related job losses, excluding indirect job losses (such as the estimated 10,000 or so in Honda suppliers and service companies)

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTIPx0lI6pb-3Tn-3D6uNJNyKcCd-A8uPMxViagyJAR9T87ZmnSdAEPCzp5ljlNYoUNdxJiJqQdBm7b/pubhtml?fbclid=IwAR0I-93hG2JhH_F4CtKkO6qFx13sjiNr7DVFfn_gGiuw36ZeZk3XpW90AwI

Look back at UK manufacturing history, it has always evolved, plants and industries close down and others open.

This is what happens when you are not self sufficient in the basics and don’t invest in your own country. Other countries hold you to ransom and always will do. No other country or business cares about us.

Honda made it clear in an interview with BBC radio 4 today that their decision had nothing to do with Brexit and all to do with the electrification of cars.