The industrial unrest which has threatened production at Nissan in Sunderland and Peugeot's Ryton plant may have moved to Honda.
The Nick Whale Group has added Honda Cars to its franchise portfolio with the acquisition of the Honda Car Centre in Halesowen. And the expanding West Midlands group is set to announce “further developments” in Birmingham City Centre.
Honda America has paid a major compliment to the carmaker's Swindon plant – citing the Wiltshire facility as playing a key role in helping the distributor to its ninth year of record sales.
Honda's Chinese joint venture, Guangzhou Honda Automotive Company, plans to increase sales volumes by 90 per cent in 2003, according to Chinese newspaper reports. The company says it hopes to sell 110,000 cars and minivans this year.
Honda's Swindon Plant will have achieved a record production total of more than 176,000 units by the end of this year – an increase of 55 per cent on last year's total.
The two main Japanese carmakers are bullish about 2003 vehicle sales. Honda today says it expects sales to be up 10 per cent to a record 3.1 million. And yesterday Toyota said 2003 would see 6.5m unit sales – up 5 per cent.
Honda has 3 per cent of UK market share for 2002 firmly in its sites. And with a solid platform of new model launches in 2003, the company says it is set to increase its UK market penetration next year.
Renault's new family hatchback Megane has this week been named European car of the year 2003 by a panel of 58 journalists, narrowly beating the Mazda 6 into second place. Citroen's C3 was third, with the Honda Jazz fourth.
Honda's new Accord has been named Japan's Car of the Year for the third time.
Honda says it is to make a serious attempt at achieving market penetration with its next generation petrol-electric car which goes on sale in April.
The Honda Accord may lack the charisma to be a credible Audi A4 or BMW 3-series rival, but the well-built and good-driving Accord is great value for families.
New D-sector entrants like the Jaguar X-type have encouraged Honda to move the next generation Accord, on UK sale early next year, upmarket.
The Civic has been vital to Honda's growth in the UK. It accounts for half of the company's sales and is predicted to exceed 20,000 units this year. Now in its 30th year, the Civic is finally available with a diesel option, the 100bhp 1.7-litre CTDi, as Honda tries to catch its competitors in Europe, where diesel accounts for a third of new car sales.
Honda's Insight looks different - and it is. It's a petrol-electric hybrid coupe at the forefront of Honda's quest to produce more environmentally-friendly cars.
Honda says dramatic changes in the D-sector of the market have forced it to rethink its retail strategy with the new Accord, which goes on sale next spring.
Honda is to move its next generation Accord to the top end of the upper-medium sector.
Honda is recalling more than 50,000 vehicles in the UK to fix an ignition switch fault - but dealers will have to wait months for the parts they need to fix the problem.
After months without a general manager for its UK car division, Honda has named David Strangeway as the man to drive the company forward. Previously head of human resources, he joined Honda in 1990 as franchise and dealer development manager to mastermind its dealer network boom from 130 to 150 outlets.
With the launch of the Civic Type-R, Honda created a huge amount of interest in its Civic range. Now, with the launch of the Civic 1.6 SE Sport three-door, the manufacturer is set to capitalise on that interest with a package that combines a dynamic driving experience with space and practicality.
Biggest rivals to the Ford Focus include the dull but talented Astra and the spacious new generation five-door Honda Civic.