Car maker boss fires a no-deal Brexit warning
FAILURE TO AGREE TRADE TERMS COULD LEAVE MANUFACTURER ‘UNABLE TO COMPETE WITH EUROPE’
A TOP boss at car maker Toyota has issued a stark warning about a no -deal Brexit, saying it could make the firm’s UK plants uncompetitive.
Toyota employs a total of 3,000 workers at its plant in Burnaston in South Derbyshire and its engine plant in Deeside, North Wales.
Dr Johan van Zyl, the boss of Toyota’s European operations, told the BBC in an interview that a no-deal Brexit would create a “very negative investment environment” in the UK and he warned it would be “very, very negative” for the Japanese car maker.
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Mr van Zyl has said that if there was a no-deal Brexit then tariffs on cross channel trade could make a big difference and affect sales of its cars.
He said: “If 90 per cent of what you produce in the UK is exported to the EU, and you’ve got to do it at a duty, then you’re not competitive.
“You will not be able to compete with plants in Europe. So it is a very difficult situation.
“But let’s see what the outcome of the negotiations is, then we can really decide what we’re going to do.”
The company has, he said, already taken steps to mitigate the impact of a no-deal scenario – but there is a limit to what it can do.
Dr van Zyl added: “We have confidence in our colleagues in the UK. They’re doing an excellent job so far”.
The Brexit transition period ends on January 1 but there are concerns that preparation by many firms may have “slipped off the radar” as they struggle with the impact of Covid19, business leaders have warned.
Last month Toyota in Burnaston reported that its plant had bounced back from problems caused by
Covid-19, with a car rolling off the production line every 78 seconds and overtime for workers.
And the company says that even though car sales have fallen during the pandemic, Toyota was outperforming its competitors.
The Corolla Hatchback and Touring Sports models are being built at a record pace in Derbyshire, and Toyota Manufacturing UK (TMUK) managing director Jim Crosbie said production had recovered much faster than expected, springing back “very strongly”.
However, he conceded that there were unknowns ahead such as when the pandemic would recede, the impact of Brexit and the condition of the economy.
Despite the continuing uncertainty over the coronavirus pandemic, the company was also reporting it is just 15 per cent down in sales compared to a 30 per cent dip across the car market as a whole.