How much work we we lose to EU depends on Brexit

disruptions). But the move also offers the prospect of JLR potentially investing up to £500 million in building new models at Solihull, hopefully including electric and hybrid cars.

This will hopefully include the new Range Rover and Range Rover Sport from 2020.

The agency job losses from the Discovery shift will come on top of a 1,000 job cuts the firm announced earlier this year.

The latter was linked to diesel’s decline (on which JLR is especially exposed) and Brexit uncertainty.

The plant in Nitra, Slovakia, can build up to 150,000 cars a year but expect that to be doubled over time.

While the Discovery move is not directly Brexit related, JLR has previously warned about the potential negative impact of Brexit given that – like the rest of UK auto – it needs to access to European markets and supply chains for components.

As part of the latest JLR announcement, the firm committed to making the next generation of its Range Rover Evoque model in the UK (most likely Halewood).

Four key points arise from the latest developments: 1) The Discovery shift was always likely and, if it frees up space for investment at Solihull in new models, including electric cars, then overall that’s probably a good thing for the region, but... 2) Following on from this, we want to see confirmation of the size and shape of the new investment in Solihull and Halewood and what models will be made in the UK. 3) The fact that 2) hasn’t been announced may well reflect current uncertainty on the state of the UK auto market and over the form of Brexit (investment in UK auto is stalling because of Brexit uncertainty) 4) Longer term, we’ll likely see more work going to Slovakia though how much depends on the form of Brexit.

A hard Brexit with the UK outside the Customs Union and Single Market will see more investment in Slovakia.

Let’s be clear: staying in the Customs Union and Single Market post Brexit would be best for investment, production and jobs in UK auto.

The Government and the Opposition need to realise that sooner rather than later. Professor David Bailey, Aston Business School