BMW may pull Mini out of UK in no deal
MINIS may no longer be built in Britain in the case of a no-deal Brexit, BMW has warned.
The German car giant said no deal could force it to shift production from its plant in Oxford, in southern England, to the Netherlands. BMW board member Peter Schwarzenbauer, who is responsible for Mini and Rolls-Royce, said extra tariffs and customs checks would create a ‘huge burden for the Mini brand’.
Speaking to Sky News at the Geneva motor show, he said Rolls Royce – another BMWowned brand – would have to remain in the UK.
But he could not give similar guarantees for Mini’s Cowley plant, which employs around 4,500 staff and produces more than 200,000 Minis every year.
He said of a no-deal Brexit: ‘If this would come, which is the worst-case scenario, we would need to consider what it means for us in the long run. For Mini this is a real danger.’
Mr Schwarzenbauer also said the company, which employs 8,000 people in the UK, was considering whether to move some engine production from Warwickshire in England’s West Midlands to an Austrian plant.
Toyota has also warned that a no-deal Brexit would make its UK production ‘extremely complicated’. Last month, Nissan said that the new X-Trail, originally planned for its plant in the north of England, would instead be made in Japan.