3:06pm Friday 25th January 2008
HONDA is confident it will produce the two millionth car on schedule, despite an unexpected halt in production this week.
The South Marston plant was shut down on Wednesday after an accident at Southampton Docks.
The problem arose after a crane collapsed on a tanker at the docks, which delayed the docking of a tanker carrying Honda gearboxes.
As a result, hundreds of Honda staff in Swindon were sent home for the day and the production of about 1,000 cars was delayed. Work restarted at 10am yesterday.
"I'm pleased to say that production has now been fully restored," said Julie Cameron, the head of corporate communications at the factory.
"The crane failure did cause us a major problem because these were key engine components which we needed.
"The car production was disrupted for almost 24 hours."
In four weeks' time the South Marston factory is due to celebrate the production of its two millionth vehicle built in Swindon.
But the Advertiser understands the car giant is confident it will it its target date for the landmark.
More than 5,000 people work at South Marston and it is rare for the production line to be stopped during working hours.
A usual working day sees the line start at 6am and go through to almost midnight with stops only for meals and a shift change.
This year Honda will build no fewer than 150,000 Civics and 100,000 CR-Vs.
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