(Times paywall) Car industry calls for interim Brexit deal ‘to avoid cliff edge’
< meanwhile, back in the world of the UK needing to earn its living >
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/business/car-industry-calls-for-interim-eu-deal-to-avoid-cliff-edge-ngzrm9wgf
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders believes Brexit talks will not be concluded in time and wants the UK to retain membership of the single market until a deal is agreed
The car industry has called on the government to reach an interim arrangement with the European Union to prevent businesses collapsing after Brexit.
.....
Addressing the SMMT’s annual summit in London, Mike Hawes, the trade association’s chief executive, said:
“We accept that we are leaving the European Union and we share the desire for that departure to be a success.
But our biggest fear is that in two years’ time, we fall off a cliff edge
— no deal,
outside the single market and customs union
and trading on inferior World Trade Organisation terms.
This would undermine our competitiveness and our ability to attract the investment that is critical to future growth.”
The EU is vital for the British motor industry,
representing its largest export destination, accounting for 56 per cent of output.
.....
Ian Howells, senior vice-president of Honda Motor Europe, the Japanese carmaker, warned that
leaving the customs union could “seize up” the supply chain,
hitting the company’s plant in Swindon, where it employs almost 4,000 people and produces the five-door Civic and Civic Type R.
“To us, free and frictionless trade implies the elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers, the smooth flow of goods along our supply chains and simple, painless customs arrangements,
all of which the European customs union currently provides,”
“The customs union allows exporters to trade tariff-free throughout the EU, as well as limiting border checks and other bureaucratic burdens.”
Mr Howells added that
Honda’s site in Swindon relied on the delivery of two million components a day, with 350 lorries unloading EU-sourced parts,
and while the company was committed to the UK, < atm >
“given this finely balanced system, disruption to the flow of goods to the factory could interrupt our ability to continue to produce cars efficiently at Swindon”.
......
Jeremy Hicks, managing director of Jaguar Land Rover UK:
“We see the future as autonomous, electronic and connected.
Fifty per cent of our range will have an electric option in the new few years,
but
it requires a massive investment and that’s why we can’t have uncertainty about customs and tariffs, which might mean the industry falls off a cliff edge.”
.....
The lobbying efforts come as the government has stepped up efforts to ensure that the electric Mini is made in Britain, amid concerns BMW could build it in Germany or the Netherlands < much lobbying to have this high tech here in Germany - in the EU >