Britain’s biggest car plant “will not be sustainable” if there is no deal, Nissan has warned.
The company employs 7,000 workers at its Sunderland factory but said that increased tariffs would raise costs.
It cautioned that any delay in overseas supplies of parts because of new customs checks could slow production.
With today’s possible no deal outcome tens of thousands of workers across the UK now face the same fate awaiting workers in Sunderland.
Nissan said there must be agreement on a free-trade deal.
“If it happens without any sustainable business case obviously it is not a question of Sunderland or not Sunderland, obviously our UK business will not be sustainable, that’s it,” Nissan’s chief operating officer Ashwani Gupta told Reuters.
How many of those cheering in Sunderland as shown in the video below will welcome mass unemployment in their area. Sow many in this video are wondering if being filmed cheering on what will be such a catastrophe for the UK wonder what they were thinking of.
Ashwani Gupta said Nissan was not seeking compensation from the UK for costs incurred from any no-deal Brexit, after reports suggested that the company and Toyota Motor Corp would do so.
“We are absolutely not thinking that and we are not discussing it,” he said.
Nissan warned in June that the prospect of additional costs from tariffs and possible border delays threatens the viability of its UK business.
Mr Gupta told the BBC the EU was the Sunderland factory’s biggest customer and warned that Nissan’s commitment could not be maintained if there was not tariff-free EU access.
“We are the number one carmaker in the UK and we want to continue,” he said.
“Having said that, if we are not getting the current tariffs, it’s not our intention but the business will not be sustainable. That’s what everybody has to understand.”
So for those cheering in Sunderland four years ago is this now the time to repent at leisure. If you consider unemployment as leisure that is.
