Honda has decided to half its UK car production to help ease the situation in Japan in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami disaster.

Key components for the Honda models built in the UK come from Japan. While stock levels are affected by the disaster, Honda will cut production in half from 11 April, but it says this action will safeguard all jobs at its Swindon plant. All workers will remain on full pay and Honda says the extra hours saved now will help get the UK factory back up to speed when parts supplies recover to normal levels.

Honda Motor Europe Executive Vice President, Ken Keir, said: "We've taken the decision to reduce our production volumes at HUM as it enables us to continue with our manufacturing activities, thus minimising the impact on Honda customers, dealers and Associates. We appreciate everyone's understanding, customers and dealers, during these challenging times."

Car production will resume at Honda's Suzuka and Sayama factories in Japan on 11 April. It's expected these plants too will run at half their normal capacity.

Nissan has also announced it will reconfigure manufacturing at its UK factory to cope with the adverse conditions brought on by the disaster in Japan. The Sunderland factory will not run for three days from 26 to 28 April.

In a statement, Nissan said these are normal non-production days that have simply been brought forward to help minimise disruption.

Alisdair Suttie - 8 Apr 2011