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You really believe that? Do you think Honda aren't concerned about not having access to the EU/Japan FTA? I would have thought that a car company would very much prefer to export cars without tariffs.
Today's press release is framed with more diplomacy than you might realise. The Brexiteer MP in Swindon yesterday claimed that Honda had told him that fear of losing access to the FTA was part of their decision, but he then deleted his comments saying this. The local press also reported this and then modified their article after a couple of hours.
The online response to the comment was pretty controversial and I think Honda realised.
Stonehedge-
Interesting. I can see the importance of access to the FTA but I still think car plants in this country are fucked. I grew up in the Midlands, my Dad worked in the automotive industry, it's been happening for years and the drop in demand for diesels and ultra low emission requirements are another two nails in the coffin. JLR is genuinely struggling, they warned a long time ago that Brexit would be bad for their business but dieselgate (when their range is mostly diesel), falling Chinese demand and the high cost of doing business in the UK seems to have done the damage, not Brexit.
Honda have said that they want to invest in a region that is a big marketplace for them: they sell more vehicles in the US, Japan and China so that means outside of Europe, not just outside of the UK. They've also announced they're going to stop making the Civic in Turkey, which presumably has nothing to do with Brexit.
Fox
Unlikely. The British motor industry has been in terminal decline for a long time, this is just following a well established trajectory.
Honda's said it has nothing to do with Brexit and they don't have any reason to lie about that. The timing sucks though of course.