Ford of Europe chief Jim Farley has stressed the importance of continued tariff-free trade for the UK's auto industry sector when the UK leaves the EU in 2019.
Farley told Reuters in Geneva that tariff-free trade after Brexit is 'vitally important' to maintaining jobs at Ford's British sites.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Farley's remarks come amid some concern over the outlook for jobs at Ford's UK engine plants, especially Bridgend in Wales that is seeing contracts coming to an end over the next few years.
Farley told Reuters that barrier-free trade was essential to protecting the firm's more than 14,000 British workers.
"For the future of those employees and for customers in the UK, a zero-tariff environment is really, really important," he said during an interview at the Geneva motor show.
Reuters notes that Ford's British-built engines could face tariffs of up to 2.7%, while vehicle imports could be hit by tariffs of up to 10% if Britain falls back on WTO rules in the absence of a trade deal being agreed with the EU in advance of departure scheduled for the spring of 2019.
