Car giant Honda’s new range of Swindon-built models will make it one of this year’s top motoring brands as it puts years of troubles behind it.
The verdict comes from Glass’s – the largest vehicle data provider in Europe and publisher of the industry-standard Glass’s Guide to Car Values. 
It says the “complete reinvention” of the Honda range in 2015 will take the Japanese-owned manufacturer to “a new place in the market”.
Honda bosses admit the firm, which makes cars and engines for the European market on its sprawling South Marston site, has struggled in recent years. Production has been scaled back with the loss of hundreds of jobs as its models failed to inspire cash-strapped buyers in a contracting market.
But the firm believes a raft of model launches this year – starting next month when it unveils the latest version of its Swindon-built Civic Type R – will restore its standing as one of the world’s top car makers with highly-reliable, fuel-efficient vehicles.
Honda has also said it will upgrade its Swindon-built Civic model this year – a car which has become the South Marston plant’s flagship model since production started in 1994 for the European market. The model has been produced by Honda at various plants around the world since 1992 and is now in its ninth generation.
Honda said the new made-in-Swindon Civic range will be given “several enhancements”
Honda joins rivals Jaguar Land Rover and Skoda as Glass’s three ‘it’ brands of 2015 – the car ranges with the biggest buzz around them right now, it says in a new report today.
Glass’s head of valuations Rupert Pontin said in a new car market becoming ever more competitive, these three were successfully outshining the competition in terms of product quality, running costs and – crucially – sheer consumer appeal.
“Sometimes, everything comes together for a car maker and they find themselves with not just an excellent range of cars but a kind of aura to almost everything they do,” he said.
“These are the brands that discerning private and fleet motorists want to drive and switched on traders want to buy and sell.”
Honda, he said, is set for a complete reinvention and a return to its position as one of the most innovative and desirable of the Japanese mainstream manufacturers.
“There is a complete new model range coming this year which we believe will take them to a new place in the UK market,” he said. “The watchwords here are relevance, cost effectiveness and competitiveness.”
At the other end of the scale, there were a number of brands that were rapidly losing their appeal in the eyes of private buyers, traders and fleets.
“The biggest dangers are mediocre product or a tendency to chase market share, eroding some of the exclusivity around your brand in the process,” said Mr Pontin, without naming the brands. “There are several manufacturers who are having to contend with at least one of these problems at the moment.”
Honda axed nearly 500 jobs last year, mothballed one of its two production lines at South Marston and reduced daily shifts from three to two at the plant as its European sales continued to struggle.
Production at the plant has declined steadily over the past few years. It is expected to have produce less than half its capacity of 250,000 vehicles in 2014.
Speaking ahead of next month’s Geneva Motor Show – where Honda will unveil the new Civic Type R – its UK managing director Philip Crossman said: “There's no denying the past six or seven years have been tough for the Honda brand but with the fruits of a massive research and development investment now coming to the fore, 2015 is our year and the sleeping giant is awakening. Geneva is our spring board to explode the Honda brand back to where we belong.”
