Unipart is selling its share in a £20m Oxford car parts factory to Japanese car giant Honda.

The factory, which employs 95 staff at Cowley, opened two years ago as a joint venture between Unipart, Honda and Japanese engineering firm Yutaka.

A spokesman for Unipart said the move came as Honda planned a major increase in production at its UK manufacturing base in Swindon.

She said: "There will be no change for the people at Cowley. They were employed by the joint venture and they will continue to be employed by it. There won't be any job losses and if anything there could be more jobs as they ramp up to meet increased demand."

She said the change in share ownership would go through next year and no decision had yet been made on whether the Unipart Yutaka Systems factory would be renamed.

Last month, Honda announced it was planning to sell 210,000 cars in Europe this year, rising to 350,000 in 2003/04 mostly by increased production at Swindon.

The Swindon plant is being expanded, with a second plant scheduled to begin production next summer.

Honda said it would export the next generation CR-V compact 4x4 to the North American market from Swindon, as well as the new Civic three-door model to the Japanese market.

Earlier this year the UYS factory at Cowley, which mainly makes Honda exhaust systems, achieved one of the highest accolades in manufacturing, an Achievement in Quality award from Honda.

The factory also has the international quality standard ISO 9002 and is on target for the even tougher standard QS 9000 for 2001.