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"All European market production is being consolidated to Japan, where the company is based" Doesn't seem to be related to brexit.

threeseed 8y ago
Sort of. Primarily it's because of the EU-JP FTA. But even if they didn't happen they would've had to leave since both UK parties want to leave the single market. And without the single market it's very difficult to run a frictionless supply chain across the channel. It's why you are seeing lots of manufacturing companies preparing to leave UK.
mey 8y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Honda_facilities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Honda_facilities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_UK_Manufacturing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_UK_Manufacturing The heavy lifting of Honda is in the UK for the EU region.
glenndebacker 8y ago
There is only one Honda plant in the EU. Also because of the new trade deal between the EU and Japan it’s possible cheaper for them to export from Japan than a UK because of the brexit (regardless if there is a deal)
- dingaling 8y ago
  > There is only one Honda plant in the EU That's not correct; there is an auto parts factory in Belgium and a light-machinery plant in France ( my lawnmower and generator hail from there ). They are also planning to close the Civic production factory in non-EU Turkey which produced the saloon to import to the EU, to complement Swindon's hatchback.
jsiepkes 8y ago
"Like Nissan, Honda stands to benefit from a new trade deal between the European Union and Japan, which will make it easier to produce cars in Japan for export to the bloc. " Due to Brexit they no longer have access to the EU internal market from the UK. Add to that a new trade deal between the EU and Japan and there is little reason for them to stay in the UK.
sonnyblarney 8y ago
How is this comment possibly downvoted? The facts of the article poignantly contradict the headline, which is quite common as the Brexit narrative is distorted daily in all directions. Japan is withdrawing from Europe, point blank, this really isn't so much a Brexit issue, certainly not warranted in the title.
- luka-birsa 8y ago
  You are trying to tell me that its an unlucky coincidence that the businesses are shutting down right around Brexit deadline, and Brexit nothing has to do with it? Sure.
  - sonnyblarney 8y ago
    "All European market production is being consolidated to Japan, where the company is based" Japan just signed a major trade deal with the EU which would abnegate them from the need to actually make any cars in Europe anymore, since they can be imported into Europe sans tariffs. Ergo - this is a story about how an EU/Japan trade deal is causing the closure of plants across Europe. Clearly Brexit might be part of the calculus but there's no evidence to suggest how they are related. You've offered no evidence or logic, and neither has the article. I don't think there's any clear reasoning on how Brexit factors into this.
    - mojuba 8y ago
      > Ergo - this is a story about how an EU/Japan trade deal is causing the closure of plants across Europe. Any examples of closures elsewhere in the EU?
      - Wildgoose 8y ago
        Taken from a comment further up: "They are also planning to close the Civic production factory in non-EU Turkey which produced the saloon to import to the EU, to complement Swindon's hatchback."
jumelles 8y ago
Here's an idea that says otherwise. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1097550055400181760.html https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1097550055400181760.html
pcurve 8y ago
“About 40 percent of the components that Honda uses at the Swindon factory come from the European Union”
daddylonglegs 8y ago
Honda will be able to fall back to production in Japan thanks to a trade deal with the EU that has just come into force. That trade deal was agreed in 2017 after the UK had formally started it's withdrawal, so the UK was no longer able to make sure the deal suited UK industry. There is no guarantee that the UK would have done so of course, we have no idea what we're doing and we are no longer fooling anyone. Car sales are down globally but, while the downturns are when large companies make their cuts, the decision to pull out of a country completely will be driven by long term considerations. I think the Japanese establishment have lost confidence in the UK and, having prepared their lifeboat in 2017, they are now abandoning ship. Two years of lunacy have brought things to the point that parts and vehicles in transit between Japan and the UK are in a legal limbo: if you ship something now you don't know what customs and regulatory arrangements will be in place in six weeks time when your goods are unloaded! The 29th of March will not bring a moment of clarity. Whether it's an exit under the withdrawal agreement or a crash-out, the exit will not establish the replacement trade agreements. We still need to negotiate them all [1]. What we've done so far was the easy part and we clearly were not ready even for that. [1] Well, not all of them. At least we've wrapped up an agreement with the Faroe Islands.

threeseed 8y ago

Sort of. Primarily it's because of the EU-JP FTA. But even if they didn't happen they would've had to leave since both UK parties want to leave the single market. And without the single market it's very difficult to run a frictionless supply chain across the channel. It's why you are seeing lots of manufacturing companies preparing to leave UK.

mey 8y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Honda_facilities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Honda_facilities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_UK_Manufacturing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_UK_Manufacturing The heavy lifting of Honda is in the UK for the EU region.

glenndebacker 8y ago

There is only one Honda plant in the EU. Also because of the new trade deal between the EU and Japan it’s possible cheaper for them to export from Japan than a UK because of the brexit (regardless if there is a deal)

dingaling 8y ago
> There is only one Honda plant in the EU That's not correct; there is an auto parts factory in Belgium and a light-machinery plant in France ( my lawnmower and generator hail from there ). They are also planning to close the Civic production factory in non-EU Turkey which produced the saloon to import to the EU, to complement Swindon's hatchback.

jsiepkes 8y ago

"Like Nissan, Honda stands to benefit from a new trade deal between the European Union and Japan, which will make it easier to produce cars in Japan for export to the bloc. " Due to Brexit they no longer have access to the EU internal market from the UK. Add to that a new trade deal between the EU and Japan and there is little reason for them to stay in the UK.

sonnyblarney 8y ago

How is this comment possibly downvoted? The facts of the article poignantly contradict the headline, which is quite common as the Brexit narrative is distorted daily in all directions. Japan is withdrawing from Europe, point blank, this really isn't so much a Brexit issue, certainly not warranted in the title.

luka-birsa 8y ago
You are trying to tell me that its an unlucky coincidence that the businesses are shutting down right around Brexit deadline, and Brexit nothing has to do with it? Sure.
- sonnyblarney 8y ago
  "All European market production is being consolidated to Japan, where the company is based" Japan just signed a major trade deal with the EU which would abnegate them from the need to actually make any cars in Europe anymore, since they can be imported into Europe sans tariffs. Ergo - this is a story about how an EU/Japan trade deal is causing the closure of plants across Europe. Clearly Brexit might be part of the calculus but there's no evidence to suggest how they are related. You've offered no evidence or logic, and neither has the article. I don't think there's any clear reasoning on how Brexit factors into this.
  - mojuba 8y ago
    > Ergo - this is a story about how an EU/Japan trade deal is causing the closure of plants across Europe. Any examples of closures elsewhere in the EU?
    - Wildgoose 8y ago
      Taken from a comment further up: "They are also planning to close the Civic production factory in non-EU Turkey which produced the saloon to import to the EU, to complement Swindon's hatchback."

jumelles 8y ago

Here's an idea that says otherwise. https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1097550055400181760.html https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1097550055400181760.html

pcurve 8y ago

“About 40 percent of the components that Honda uses at the Swindon factory come from the European Union”

daddylonglegs 8y ago

Honda will be able to fall back to production in Japan thanks to a trade deal with the EU that has just come into force. That trade deal was agreed in 2017 after the UK had formally started it's withdrawal, so the UK was no longer able to make sure the deal suited UK industry. There is no guarantee that the UK would have done so of course, we have no idea what we're doing and we are no longer fooling anyone. Car sales are down globally but, while the downturns are when large companies make their cuts, the decision to pull out of a country completely will be driven by long term considerations. I think the Japanese establishment have lost confidence in the UK and, having prepared their lifeboat in 2017, they are now abandoning ship. Two years of lunacy have brought things to the point that parts and vehicles in transit between Japan and the UK are in a legal limbo: if you ship something now you don't know what customs and regulatory arrangements will be in place in six weeks time when your goods are unloaded! The 29th of March will not bring a moment of clarity. Whether it's an exit under the withdrawal agreement or a crash-out, the exit will not establish the replacement trade agreements. We still need to negotiate them all [1]. What we've done so far was the easy part and we clearly were not ready even for that. [1] Well, not all of them. At least we've wrapped up an agreement with the Faroe Islands.