Toyota has said it will continue to make cars in the UK despite the UK prime minister Theresa May’s plan for Britain to leave the European Union’s single market, a move which could potentially increase trade costs between the UK and EU.
“We can survive this,” Toyota chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada said in an interview with Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “In every country in the world, we don’t tend to close or move factories when things like this happen and it will be the same in the UK.”
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
However, in an interview with the Financial Times he raised concerns over the future competitive position for the company’s UK production facilities.
“We have seen the direction of the prime minister of the UK, we are now going to consider, together with the suppliers, how our company can survive,” Toyota chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada told the FT.
“We are considering and discussing with the government how to maintain the competitiveness,” he added.
However, the FT reported that he stressed Toyota had not taken any decisions yet and was waiting to see how the EU would respond to Britain’s demands.
Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn received assurances from the UK government last year that the competitive position for its UK plant would not change as a result of Brexit. After the assurances the company confirmed new model investments for its UK plant at Sunderland.
“It doesn’t change the decision,” Ghosn said in a separate interview with Bloomberg Television in Davos. “Frankly, it’s not a surprise.”
There are two Toyota manufacturing plants in the UK employing over 3,400 people. The vehicle manufacturing plant is located at Burnaston in Derbyshire (makes the Avensis and Auris) and the engine manufacturing plant is located at Deeside in North Wales.
