Honda has celebrated the two millionth car from its Swindon car production facility. The silver CR-V is scheduled for production on February 21, 2008, nearly 16 years after car manufacturing began in October 1992. The company also announced  a substantial new investment, showing further commitment to its UK manufacturing operations.

The company is investing a further £80m to upgrade and improve manufacturing processes. This includes £20m into plastic operations, £16m into a new casting facility and a further £50m is being invested in welding and paint production technology, increasing efficiency and production flexibility.

Honda’s Swindon plant has shown a 25 per cent increase in production volume over the last 18 months, with the company’s UK sales operation breaking through the 100,000 sales barrier for the first time in 2007. Currently just under 30 per cent of Swindon production goes to the UK market. In 2007, HUM produced 237,783 cars.

David Hodgetts, director at HUM said: “We are extremely proud of our workforce here in Swindon.  This major milestone demonstrates the scale of our achievement since our operations began nearly 22 years ago. This fresh investment will enable Honda to improve overall competitiveness and increase the level of localised manufacture in Swindon. ”