Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Mini crisis
No-deal Brexit could see iconic motor leave UK BMW, Toyota & Vauxhall all voice production fears
PRODUCTION of the Mini in the UK could end if there is a no-deal Brexit, owner BMW has warned.
Toyota and Vauxhall bosses also fear for UK jobs should we crash out.
Peter Schwarzenbauer, a BMW board member, said the German firm would “at least have to consider” moving production out of Cowley in Oxford, threatening 4,500 jobs.
He said: “For Mini, this is really a danger.” No-deal could also lead BMW to move some engine production from Birmingham to Austria.
A senior executive at Toyota said a no-deal Brexit would make it “extremely complicated” to commit to building new models in the UK.
Toyota began production of the new Corolla at its Burnaston plant in Derbyshire in January.
Didier Leroy, chairman of Toyota’s European operations, said: “No-deal is terrible, it will create big additional challenges to keep competitiveness.”
But he said Toyota had “no plan today to withdraw from the UK”.
Carlos Tavares, boss of Vauxhall’s parent company PSA, said production of electric and hybrid cars at Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, would be delayed until the outcome of Brexit became clear.
He said: “We cannot invest in a site where we don’t know what is going to be the profitability.”
Ford has already warned a no-deal Brexit would be “catastrophic”. And Andy Palmer, CEO of Aston Martin, said it would be a “bloodbath”.
Honda workers will gather outside Parliament today to urge MPS to persuade the car giant to rethink plans to close its factory in Swindon in 2021, risking 3,500 job losses and another 10,000 in the supply chain.
Honda blamed “challenges of electrification”, not Brexit, and yesterday announced every new car sold in Europe will be electrified by 2025. Nissan ditched plans to produce the X-trail SUV in Sunderland. It was reported yesterday it was set to cut production at the plant threatening 400 jobs.
It also emerged that the Government plans to cut up to 90% of all tariffs on goods imported into Britain if there is a no-deal Brexit.
Unite’s Steve Turner said the “Government’s Brexit Russian roulette” had put jobs at risk. Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long Bailey said: “This chaos must end.”