Toyota boss Akio Toyoda has warned of the potential impact Britain’s withdrawl from the European Union could have on the Japanese car industry, saying that a no-deal Brexit should be “avoided at all costs”.
In a statement issued in his role as chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), Toyoda said maintaining frictionless borders – with no tariffs or delays as parts pass between Britain and the EU – was vital for the nation’s car industry. Along with Toyota, JAMA members include Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Subaru and Suzuki.
Toyoda said the Japanese car industry was a “stakeholder” in the automobile industry in the UK and EU, because of its contributions to the economy in the region. He noted that JAMA members owned 14 production plants and 17 research and design centres across the EU, which produced 1.5 million vehicles and were responsible for 170,000 jobs.
Brexit: what it means for the UK car industry
“For those contributions to continue, it is necessary that an unimpaired trade environment between the United Kingdom and the European Union be maintained and that the automobile industry’s activities remain predicated on shared standards, including those regulating vehicle certification,” said Toyoda.
The JAMA chairman added that failure to reach a withdrawal agreement would adversely affect both companies and consumers due to “the impacts of suspended production activities resulting from failed just-in-time logistics operations, declines in revenue, and revised vehicle sales prices caused by spiralling logistics and production costs”.
Toyoda is the latest car industry chief to speak out over fears of a no-deal Brexit, joining the bosses of Ford and Jaguar Land Rover. The manager of Toyota’s plant in Burnaston has already warned of the potential impact it could have on production there.
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You don’t say.....!
The mans talking but nobody is listening, going forward with Brexit let alone a hard Brexit has so many implications for us the Nation, virtually higher priced everything for a while which at the moment most Families are dreading and that’s before our Children’s possible gloomy future. There’s talk of pushing back the leaving date, is this because both parties in this divorce don’t really want to separate but don’t want to admit it?, because, and I don’t think here in the UK we’ve thought about it, Britain leaving would start a Domino effect of other Eu members wanting to leave which would be an even bigger mess. Maybe a Spring clean of the whole Eu rule Book so to speak would’ve been a better solution?, over the last 45years or so things have changed, moved on, and to my knowledge, and I’m sure someone will correct me, the Eu doesn’t update the criteria for membership?
Peter Cavellini wrote:
Agreed, it'll kill the car/food industry here
I don't think this'll happen, a few are shouting about change but not leaving, they've seen the pothole we are falling down and the disadvantages of not being in the CU/SM and relying on WTO. Being in the EU is now seen by more people on the continent as a good thing than before we voted.
There have been plenty of changes such as you'll need to adopt the Euro. There's over 35 criteria to apply in order to get a level playing field thats why Turkey cannot pass more one of 2 tests out of the 35+ tests for entry. Everything evolves as time moves on, fact of life.