The head of the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance has played down the possibility of Britain leaving the EU without a deal, saying he has a “gut feeling” that an agreement will be reached.
Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of Renault and chairman of the global alliance between the three carmakers, said Theresa May would not “allow” a situation that “jeopardises” Britain’s manufacturing operations.
His comments come as the heads of several of the UK’s key producers — Vauxhall, Mini and Jaguar Land Rover — warned about the negative consequences of a no-deal Brexit.
Nissan was the first major manufacturer to pledge to build new models in the UK following the Brexit vote in 2016, with Mr Ghosn receiving guarantees from the prime minister that the competitiveness of the company’s Sunderland plant would be maintained after Brexit.
“I have met all of the inhabitants of 10 Downing street in my tenure,” he said. “All of them are extremely attentive to business and I would be very surprised if, all of a sudden, a major decision is taken that jeopardises what the UK has been building for the last few years.”
He added: “My gut feeling, is I have difficulty imagining something is allowed to happen that goes against the economic interests of the country.” The company is, however, planning for “the worst”, as a prudent measure, he added.
With only six months to go until Britain leaves the EU, carmakers with facilities in the country are increasingly concerned about the prospects of an exit that sees Britain resort to World Trade Organisation tariffs.
At a gathering of the world’s largest carmakers at the Paris Motor Show, automakers’ warnings included:
- BMW is likely to shift further production of Mini cars from Oxford to Holland
- Jaguar Land Rover will be forced to close one of its plants
- Vauxhall, Peugeot and Citroën will offer fewer cars to consumers to recoup costs from importing vehicles
Jaguar Land Rover, whose boss, Ralf Speth, previously said Brexit would imperil its UK operations and lead to tens of thousands of job cuts, said the company would be likely to close one of its three facilities after Brexit.
Hanno Kirner, strategy director at JLR, told the Financial Times: “Brexit could lead us to having to move industrial footprint into the EU area, which would, as a consequence, probably mean that we would have to close a plant.”
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He added that the company had already spent several million pounds on contingency planning for Brexit.
Carlos Tavares, chief executive of PSA, the owner of Vauxhall, Peugeot and Citroën, said the company had frozen all UK investments until early next year, and that the business would lower the number of models it offers in the UK if the pound drops significantly after Brexit. This is in order to recoup money on the models by selling a higher number of a more limited range of cars. He called a no-deal option “not acceptable”.
BMW chief executive Harald Krueger said the business, which already produces about a third of Mini cars in Holland, would increase its European production of the brand following Brexit, though he stressed that the company remains committed to its Oxford plant.