Honda extends Swindon shutdown

Honda will halt production at its plant in Swindon for April and May due to a collapse in global sales.

Japan's second largest car manufacturer had already announced in November that the plant would shut during February and March.

The plant builds the Honda Civic for Europe and CR-Vs for the USA. The four-month shutdown means around 45,000 fewer vehicles will be manufactured.

Honda said there were no plans for redundancies and it intends to safeguard employment for those workers who want to stay. However, workers will only receive basic pay during the lay-off.

Honda has also announced that it will cut jobs and production in Japan.