Honda has confirmed that both the new Civic hatchback for Europe and the next generation CR-V will be built at Honda’s production plant in Swindon.

The new Civic – designed exclusively for Europe and tested extensively on the region’s roads – will be the ninth generation of the popular hatchback. Honda’s first ever Civic went on sale back in 1972.
Production of the small family car will start later in the year at Swindon plant, ahead of the sales launch in early 2012. The introduction of the new model into production remained on plan during the recent parts supply interruption and the 3,000 Honda Associates continue to prepare for the arrival of the new Civic, as well as conduct additional training to further their development during this time.

“Our Associates are all really excited to be producing the next generation of Civic here at Swindon,” says Mark Trowbridge, Director of Quality and New Model at HUM “The next six months will be busy, as we ramp up to full production following the training and trial builds of the new car. The fact that we will be the only Honda plant in the world producing this hatchback version of the new Civic, makes us extremely proud of the highly skilled and dedicated team we have working here in Swindon,” Mark continued.

The company’s decision to also produce the next generation CR-V at Swindon is a further endorsement of the high quality produced by Honda’s UK based Associates. The new CR-V will go on sale in Europe from Autumn 2012.

Honda can also confirm that weekly production at Swindon will return to normal levels from early September, following a period of parts supply interruption and reduced production levels following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Parts supply from Japan has continued to improve significantly and Swindon is aiming to recover volume quickly in order to respond to customer requirements.