HONDA’S UK chief says the firm is 'committed to its Swindon factory'.

Ian Howells of Honda Motors Europe made the comments at a Brexit event organised by the Financial Times.

It came as Jaguar Land Rover announced it would move the production of the Discovery 4x4 models from Solihull to Slovakia. The UK factory will be used to build new Range Rover models. However, some jobs may be lost.

Swindon’s Honda factory employs around 3,500 people. The plant produces 600 cars a day.

The firm has backed a Brexit deal that keeps the UK in the customs union. Prime minister Theresa May has said the UK will leave this union, although a compromise with pro-EU Tory rebels has seen her pledge to agree a “customs arrangement” with the EU.

In a statement, a Honda spokesman said: “We are looking to minimise the disruption Brexit will pose to our business, and to maintain our productivity and competitiveness in this time of change.

“Our view is that the best way to do this, and to provide certainty and clarity to business – as we have said for quite some time now – is for the UK to stay within the European Customs Union. Staying in the customs union would mitigate increased administrative burdens and costs, avoid the imposition of tariffs on trade with the EU and help to minimise frictions and delays at the border.”

Asked what would happen to the Swindon plant in the event of a Brexit deal that took the UK out of the customs union, Honda said it was committed to their factory in the town.