I have no great ideological attachment to Europe. I do, however, know how much the car industry is worth to this country and how big athreat Brexit poses to foreign investment by global manufacturers, which have contributed so heavily to the automotive renaissance of the last few years.
Toyota issued its response to the referendum last week. Cloaked in diplomacy, the message was still clear: “Back in 1992, Toyota chose the UK for its first major manufacturing operations in Europe because of the open and free access to the European market, the availability of a skilled workforce and the presence of a strong network of suppliers.”
While stating that “it is not our intention to participate” in the referendum campaign, Toyota says “we are concerned that leaving [the EU] would create additional business challenges. As a result we believe continued British membership of the EU is best for our operations and their long-term competitiveness.”
This is a company that employs 3,400 at their Burnaston and Deeside plants, which together represent a little over £2.2 billion worth of investment.
Then you’ve got Honda, which has invested £2.25bn in the past 30 years in Swindon and employs 3,000 people; the UK is 40 per cent of its European business.
BMW, which owns Mini and Rolls-Royce, both building and exporting cars here, said on Thursday that “We firmly believe Britain would be better off if it remained an active and influential member of the EU”.
Last year, Britain built 1.59 million cars, and the industry provided jobs for 800,000 people and contributed £15bn to the economy. We are HQ for seven mainstream manufacturers, eight premium manufacturers, seven Formula One teams, six design studios, 13 R&D centres and over 100 specialist brands, all here because the British workforce are highly skilled and have adopted flexible working practices unencumbered by dogmatic unions.
[“Source-telegraph”]
