Toyota Deeside: No-deal Brexit could halt production for hours, days, weeks or even months says boss

Toyota would be forced to temporarily stop production at its Deeside engine plant if there is a no-deal Brexit,

The car maker employs more than 3,000 people across its two UK manufacturing plants Deeside and Burnaston in Derby

It relies on a ‘just in time’ production method, using components imported from across the EU.

Marvin Cooke Managing Director across both the Deeside and Burnaston sites told the BBC that no-deal Brexit would have a major impact.

“My view is that if Britain crashes out of the EU at the end of March, we will see production stops in our factory,”

Asked how long the disruption could last, he said: “We can’t predict. It could be hours, days, weeks or even months.”

Cooke added that the possible introduction of import and export tariffs between the UK and EU would “add permanent costs to our business”. He added: “That would reduce the number of cars made in the UK, and that would cost jobs.”

Toyota’s Europe president, Johan van Zyl, echoed the view when he spoke to reported at the Paris Motor Show on Monday, he said “it’s difficult to estimate how long it would last.” when asked about disruption to manufacturing.

“We make 600 cars a day in the U.K., five days a week at around 20,000 pounds revenue per car, you can work it out. If you disrupt that, it’s very concerning.” he went onto say.

Media reports on Marvin Cooke’s interview with the BBC have focused mainly on likely disruption at Toyota’s Derbyshire plant, the car manufacturers external affairs spokesperson confirmed to Deeside.com both Deeside and Burnaston sites could be hit by “temporary interruptions” saying:

“The statement is applicable to both of Toyota Manufacturing UK’s operations.”

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