‘Visionary’ Ford boss says UK and EU will find agreement as car chiefs voice concern
A TRADE deal between Britain and Europe will happen as there is too much at stake for a “no deal”, Ford’s chief executive has claimed.
Jim Hackett said he believed a state of “equilibrium” would be reached over Brexit talks.
But he warned that without a tariff-free agreement the British car industry worth £77.5billion could “go off a cliff”.
Mr Hackett, whose company employs about 13,000 staff in the UK, said: “What I can confirm is that all sides will come to a state of equilibrium.”
He has been branded a “visionary” but his confidence in a Brexit trade deal comes amid warnings from other manufacturers. Uncertainty over leaving the EU has pushed car sales down in Britain and there are fears that the industry’s revival witnessed over the past 20 years could be put at risk.
In August, Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said: “A lot of people have spent the best part of decades turning round the industry, when you think back to how it was characterised in the 70s, 80s and into the 90s.”
He added: “It is very different now. It has had very difficult times and it is a cyclical industry.
“There is a fear that success could be put at jeopardy.” He warned investment could dry up and the industry could face a multi-million pound bill for planning for the consequences of Brexit.
Meanwhile, Ralf Speth, Jaguar Land Rover chief, has warned that “without free and fair trade with 500 million people in Europe jobs and investment would be at risk”.
He wrote to staff: “Even the uncertainty caused while the Government tried to negotiate the UK’s exit and make new trade deals would be highly damaging.”
If a free trade deal is not worked out between the UK and the EU, rules under the World Trade Organisation will apply.
Japanese firm Nissan is the only British-based car manufacturer so far to have been provided with “assurances” by the UK government that it will not incur costs from tariffs after Brexit.
Nissan is looking to increase production at its Sunderland plant by a fifth and double the amount of parts it sources from within the UK in a bid to offset higher costs after Britain’s withdrawal from the EU in March 2019.
The car giant is looking to up production by 20 per cent to around 600,000 vehicles per year, the Nikkei Asian Review has reported.
Nissan, which boasts the largest car plant in Britain, produced 507,000 of the 1.73 million cars which headed off British production lines during 2016.