Honda

Honda has confirmed plans to close its manufacturing plant in Swindon, putting 3,500 jobs at risk.

Swindon is the Japanese carmaker's only factory within the European Union, where it builds over 150,000 of its Civic model a year.

Despite a number of car manufacturers taking decisions to pull out or reduce its operations in the UK as a result of uncertainty around Brexit, Honda has said its decision is not Brexit related.

Speaking to the BBC, Ian Howells, senior vice-president for Honda in Europe, said: "We're seeing unprecedented change in the industry on a global scale. We have to move very swiftly to electrification of our vehicles because of demand of our customers and legislation.

"This is not a Brexit-related issue for us, it's being made on the global-related changes I've spoken about.

"We've always seen Brexit as something we'll get through, but these changes globally are something we will have to respond to. We deeply regret the impact it will have on the Swindon community."

So far this year, Ford has threatened to pull out of the UK unless the government answers key questions about Brexit, Nissan has scrapped plans to build its X-Trail model in Sunderland, and Jaguar Land Rover announced 4,500 job cuts.