The president of Toyota has joined a chorus of industry executives warning about the ill-effects of a potential no-deal Brexit.
On a posting published on the website of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Toyota president Akio Toyoda said that a no-deal Brexit needs to be avoided “at all costs.”
“It is necessary that an unimpaired trade environment between the United Kingdom and the European Union be maintained and that the automobile industry’s activities remain predicated on shared standards, including those regulating vehicle certification,” Toyoda wrote.
The UK and EU need to work out a deal within months.
Toyoda said that alterations between trade with the UK and European Union will be particularly bad for Japanese car manufacturers, citing issues such as failed just-in-time logistics operations, declines in revenue, and revised vehicle sales prices that will result from higher logistics and production costs.
Japanese carmakers currently operate 14 production plants and 17 research and development and design centers in the European Union, last year building 1.5 million vehicles and employing 170,000 people.
Toyota has previously stated that a no-deal Brexit could temporarily halt output at its production facility in Burnaston, Derbyshire. Last year, this plant built almost 150,000 cars, 90 per cent of which were exported to the EU. It also employs 2500 people.
Last week, the boss of Ford Europe expressed similar concerns about what could happen if a Brexit deal can’t be reached with the EU before March 29, 2019. According to Steven Armstrong, the automaker would be forced to “think about what our future investment strategy for the UK” would look like if no deal can be reached.