Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

Honda cutting production in Swindon again – 500 jobs at risk

Honda is cutting another 500 jobs in Swindon It’s only a year since Honda announced 800 job cuts at Swindon (which eventually was 550) and now they’re about to cut a further 500 as weak demand – particularly in Europe – sees the Swindon plant producing just half the cars it could. The plan is to cut shifts from 3 to 2 a day, which will result in the loss of 340 permanent jobs and 160 temporary ones, and production will be centred on just one production line to increase efficiency and flexibility. The Swindon Plant – which builds the Civic, Civic Tourer, CR-V and Jazz (and the Civic Type-R from next year) – has been hard hit by the slump in European sales in the last five years and, despite still strong UK sales, production levels of 120,000 cars a year – just half of the Swindon capacity – are not enough to sustain the current staffing levels.

2012 Kia cee’d revealed

The 2012 Kia cee’d debuts at Geneva After a single photo of the 2012 Kia cee’d in January, Kia now reveals its new cee’d ahead of a Geneva debut. Just like sibling Hyundai, Kia is on the up and the new 2012 Kia cee’d promises another jump in quality and appeal when it arrives in the UK in June after a public debut at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show next month. We had one photo of the new Kia cee’d last month, but now Kia has really pushed the boat out and sent us a whole four photos of their new Golf-sized offering.

Bentley W12 (and Audi and VW) engine production centres on Crewe

The VW Group W12 engine will now only be made by Bentley in Crewe It’s probably not something you’ve paused to think about much, but if you did you’d assume that the Bentley W12 engine – fitted to the Flying Spur and Continental GT as well as the Audi A8 and VW Phaeton – was made only in Crewe. But you’d be wrong. In fact, the W12 for Bentleys are made in Crewe but those used in the Audi A8 and VW Phaeton are actually built by VW at their engine plant in Salzgitter.