With no relief from falling powered two-wheeler sales throughout most of Europe, Honda has launched an emergency “recovery plan” for its main European motorcycle, scooter and PTW engine manufacturing facility at Atessa in the Abruzzo region of Italy, involving a further severe workforce reduction. Another 170 employees are being sacked, cutting the factory’s staff to 355 full-time plus 80 seasonal workers.
In 2008, the Atessa plant had 759 permanent staff plus 270 seasonals. That year, prior to the economic crisis hammering sales, it made 170,000 bikes and 800,000 engines for export to assembly plants worldwide. In 2012, output was down to 58,000 bikes and 50,000 engines but it still had about 600 workers on its payroll.
When originally developed, the Atessa plant had a planned annual production capacity of more than 300,000 units. Honda sold barely 13,000 bikes across Europe in the first quarter of 2013.