Why car makers need 50,000 more workers
MORE than 50,000 skilled jobs in the motor industry must be created to stop Britain ‘falling off a cliff edge’ after Brexit.
Yesterday, bosses warned the motor industry was facing a skills crisis with 5,000 unfilled vacancies and 50,000 staff needed by 2020.
The industry must ramp up the number of parts for UK cars made in this country in order to avoid being hit with steep tariffs for imports and exports after Brexit.
Car makers now want extra time to help plug the gap and avoid the industry going in to reverse.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) called for the UK to remain within the single market and customs union ‘for as long as it takes’ until a new relationship is implemented – which could take years.
The views were echoed by ian Howells, Honda’s European senior vice president, who said that loss of access could cripple its business.
Honda exports thousands of cars a year from its plant in Swindon.
The warnings came after the first day of Brexit talks – and are thought to be the motor industry’s bid to get a special deal, similar to the one being lobbied for by the financial services industry.
Britain makes 1.7m cars a year and around three-quarters of these are exported.
The SMMT fears the UK would be forced to trade under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, which include 10pc import tariffs on cars and 4.5pc on components, without a deal.
The call came as the SMMT released figures showing that the UK motor industry was celebrating a record £77.5bn turnover – up 9pc – marking the seventh consecutive year of growth. British car workers are also achieving record levels of productivity, building 11.8 vehicles per employee and generating more than £130,000 in added value.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: ‘Brexit and the way it is executed is without doubt the biggest challenge to our industry in a generation.’
Hawes said car makers accepted that the UK was leaving the European Union and wanted that departure to be a success, but said the UK must be ‘pragmatic’.
He added: ‘There must be no cliff edge. To leave in 2019 without a deal would put the industry in peril. ‘ Defaulting to WTO terms would mean the UK would face a £4.5bn tariff bill for cars adding £1,500 to the cost of a vehicle.’
To take advantage of zero-tariff trade, 50pc to 60pc of a car’s content must be from the UK. Currently that is 44pc. And it needs ‘free movement of talent’ from the EU, Hawes said. About one in ten workers in the UK car industry are currently from the EU.
Jeremy Hicks, managing director of Jaguar Land Rover, which has just announced 5,000 jobs, said: ‘We need the certainty to continue to invest.’
Executives from BMW and Toyota also voiced their full support for the SMMT’s position.