Jaguar Land Rover CEO expresses post-Brexit trade concerns
09/07/2018
In a statement, Jaguar CEO Professor Ralf 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.”
He added that the company “urgently needs” greater certainty over the UK’s post-Brexit trade situation if it is to continue to invest in the country.
He warned that “a bad Brexit deal” could cost Jaguar Land Rover more than £1.2 billion in profit each year. This would put its future investment plans in the UK, forecast to be £80 billion in the next five years, “in jeopardy”.
“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,” Mr Speth’s said.
In June, Jaguar Land Rover announced it would move production of the Land Rover Discovery from Solihull, near Birmingham, to its plant in Slovakia. It said the change would come into effect at the start of 2019.
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