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Honda says to invest 200 million pounds in UK plant

A sign is seen outside the Honda manufacturing plant in Swindon, western England January 30, 2009. REUTERS/Stephen Hird

TOKYO (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co said on Tuesday it would spend more than 200 million pounds to upgrade its UK plant, turning it into a global production hub for the next-generation five-door Civic.

In a move that secures the medium-term future of the under-utilised factory in Swindon, Japan's No.3 automaker said it would invest in advanced production technologies and processes, bringing cumulative investment in the plant to more than 2.2 billion pounds since 1985.

The factory plans to produce 120,000 Civics a year, selling about half in Europe and the rest for export markets, a Honda spokesman said. The plant has the capacity to make 250,000 cars per year but built just under 120,000 cars in 2014.

As the Swindon plant produces more Civics, production of the next-generation CR-V crossover will be moved to a factory in Ontario, Canada, for export to Europe, Honda said.

(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Chris Gallagher and Gopakumar Warrier)