Honda is to halt production at its Swindon factory for two months next year in the biggest manufacturing shutdown seen so far in Britain in this economic slowdown.

No cars will be made during February and March as the Japanese carmaker tries to bring production in line with demand. The company has pledged that there will be no job losses and has said that it wants to retain its 4,800 workers.

Honda has been reducing production in Britain since September because of falling sales in the UK and on the Continent, cutting one of its shifts. However, its move to leave its operations idle for two months underlines the severity of the problems in the industry.

Its announcement came as official figures showed that car production in Britain fell by 25 per cent last month to its lowest level since 1991. Commercial vehicle production plunged by 41 per cent.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said that more output cuts were likely in the next few weeks. Paul Everitt, its chief executive, said: “The October production figures reflect the rapid reduction in global demand for motor vehicles and we expect to see further reductions in factory output in November and December.”

Honda UK said that it had been hit particularly badly by plummeting demand in Russia. Most of the output from Swindon, which produces the Civic saloon and the CRV sports utility vehicle, is exported. Until recently, Russia had been a boom market for Honda and other carmakers and its market had been poised to overtake Germany as the biggest in Europe.

A spokesman for Honda UK said that the shutdown had been decided because the business did not want to stockpile cars and because it wanted to give its suppliers some notice of its requirements. The shutdown is twice as long as the closure planned by Mini, the BMW-owned marque. There will be no production at Mini’s Oxford factory next month.

Honda said that it wanted to retain its workforce because it planned to manufacture the Jazz, a new car, at Swindon next year. The Jazz is a smaller car that is already on sale in Britain and Honda UK hopes that it will be more attractive to buyers than its larger vehicles.

Jim D’Avila, a regional officer of Unite, the union, said: “This is unexpected bad news. The union, staff and the company need to work together to minimise any financial hardship and to find ways to protect pay and long-term job security.”

Workers will receive basic pay with no premiums for covering antisocial hours. Mr D’Avila said that the average weekly loss would be about £70, or 15 per cent of pay. Employees will also have to work extra when Honda is busier to make up the time they have off next year.

Honda, which made 237,000 cars in the UK last year, expects to produce 175,000 this year; however, even that may be more than the market can absorb at present. Honda plans to store as many as 7,000 cars at a former airfield.

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