Ian Howells, the senior vice president for Honda in Europe, and the most senior representative of the company in the UK was interviewed on the Today programme this morning. Below is an edited version of the interview:
Q. You’ve been here since the 1980s, through some pretty thick and thin times. Why [leave] now in your own words?
Well clearly it’s a very sad day for us, as you correctly said, we’ve been operating from the factory for about 30 years now, but really what we’re responding to and this was made clear by Takahiro Hachigo [CEO of Honda] as well, is that we’re seeing unprecedented change in the industry. And this is really happening on a global scale such that we’re having to move very very swiftly towards electrification of our motor vehicles and this is a demand from our customers but also from legislation. And it’s really starting to give us some challenges, so we’re having to address that.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in