Honda recently announced plans to close its Swindon, England factory, which produces the Civic Hatchback and Civic Type R. The plant is slated to close in 2021 when the next-generation Civic arrives and now Honda has confirmed that it will move production of the Civic Hatchback to the United States.

2019 Honda Civic Type-R

“Given our efforts to optimize production allocation and production capacity on a global scale, we have concluded that we will produce the Civic for North America in North America,” Honda CEO Takahiro Hachigo revealed to Automotive News.

Unfortunately 3,500 employees are slated to lose their jobs in the UK when the factory shuts down in two years.

“In light of the unprecedented changes that are affecting our industry, it is vital that we accelerate our electrification strategy and restructure our global operations accordingly,” stated Katsushi Inoue, Chief Officer for European Regional Operations, Honda Motor Co., Ltd., and President, Honda Motor Europe. “As a result, we have had to take this difficult decision to consult our workforce on how we might prepare our manufacturing network for the future. This has not been taken lightly and we deeply regret how unsettling today’s announcement will be for our people.”