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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.

McLaren 650S Spider joins 650S Coupe: Geneva Motor Show

The McLaren 650S Spider revealed at the Geneva Motor Show We had the reveal of the new McLaren 650S Coupe just last month, but what we didn’t get is the reveal of the Convertible version. But that’s all changed today with the arrival of the McLaren 650S Spider in Geneva with the same trick folding roof as the 12C Spider and the same cosmetic and dynamic changes as the 650S Coupe. That means open-top motoring with stunning performance – 0-62mph in 3 seconds and 124mph in 8.5 seconds thanks to the 650S’s 641bhp and 500lb/ft of torque from its updated 3.8 litre V8.

The scramble for scarce tires

North American automakers are struggling with a nagging shortage of tires, caused in part by tire plant closings and rising demand for low-volume specialty tires. Automakers are paying much higher prices -- double-digit percentage increases from a year ago -- as tire makers gain pricing power. "We have been bombarded from every side for additional tires, and we can't keep up," said David O'Donnell, Continental Tire's vice president of original equipment in the Americas.