One of the world’s biggest car manufacturers has warned that the ‘double whammy’ of Brexit and Covid could make car production uncompetitive in the UK.
Speaking at an online conference, Dr Johan van Zyl, CEO of Toyota Motor Europe has said that if Boris Johnson’s government does not agree a deal with the EU before the end of the year, there could be a negative impact on their abilities to be competitive.
"We have Brexit, and we have Covid, and this is a double whammy which is happening to us", van Zyl said.
"When it comes to the recovery… it's going to be more difficult if Brexit of course is negative, or a hard Brexit.”
Toyota currently have two factories in the UK, an engine facility in North Wales and a car plant in Derbyshire, employing 3,000 staff and though they have taken steps to prepare for the possibility of no-deal, and the WTO tariffs, they can make no guarantees on the future.
“What we could put in place, we have done - in terms of adjusting our systems, looking at customs procedures which will be required, looking at increasing stock levels.
"Up to a point we can do it. But you can't do a huge amount of that - it's only a limited few days.
"So it can be very, very negative for our business if we have a no-deal scenario. Very negative. And even if there is a deal, we need to know the content of the deal. We need to get those details to really be able to establish what is the real impact. We haven't seen those yet".