Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover CEO Ralph Speth has called for more Brexit certainty for business and warned that additional tariffs and trade costs under a ‘bad deal’ could cost the company more than GBP1bn a year.

Speth called on the UK government to urgently provide certainty for business including guaranteed tariff-free access and frictionless trade with the European Union.

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Ahead of the publication of a White Paper outlining the Government’s proposed post-Brexit trading relationship with the EU, Speth said: “Jaguar Land Rover’s heart and soul is in the UK. However we, and our partners in the supply chain, face an unpredictable future if the Brexit negotiations do not maintain free and frictionless trade with the EU and unrestricted access to the single market.

“We urgently need greater certainty to continue to invest heavily in the UK and safeguard our suppliers, customers and 40,000 British-based employees.

“A bad Brexit deal would cost Jaguar Land Rover more than GBP1.2bn profit each year. As a result, we would have to drastically adjust our spending profile; we have spent around GBP50bn in the UK in the past five years – with plans for a further GBP80bn more in the next five. This would be in jeopardy should we be faced with the wrong outcome. 

“For more than 250 years, since the era of Adam Smith, Britain has championed free markets and made the case for free trade. If the UK automotive industry is to remain globally competitive and protect 300,000 jobs in Jaguar Land Rover and our supply chain, we must retain tariff and customs-free access to trade and talent with no change to current EU regulations.

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“Electrification and connectivity offer significant economic and productivity opportunities – get Brexit wrong and British people, businesses and broader society lose the chance to lead in smart mobility.”

See also: COMMENT – Be ready for no-deal Brexit scenarios