NISSAN has urged Britain to pledge compensation for the erection of any tax barriers due to Brexit or face losing a potential new investment in the country's biggest car plant.
The warning has come from Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of the Japanese auto manufacturer, whose remarks show growing concern among global carmakers that Britain could be heading towards a so-called “hard Brexit,” which would leave them paying tariffs to export UK-assembled cars to EU markets.
Nissan, which builds around a third of Britain's total car output at its plant in Sunderland, is due to decide early next year on where to build its next Qashqai sport utility vehicle.
Read more: Nicola Sturgeon is using Brexit process to "push for independence", says David Mundell
"If I need to make an investment in the next few months and I can't wait until the end of Brexit, then I have to make a deal with the UK Government," explained Mr Ghosn at the Paris auto show.
"You can have commitments of compensation in case you have something negative," he said. "If there are tax barriers being established on cars, you have to have a commitment for carmakers who export to Europe that there is some kind of compensation."
The Nissan chief’s ultimatum echoes concerns from fellow Japanese carmaker Toyota, which said the imposition of duties as part of a Brexit deal would make running its UK plant "very, very tough."
Around 814,000 people in Britain depend of on the country's overwhelmingly foreign-owned car industry for jobs.
Read more: Nicola Sturgeon is using Brexit process to "push for independence", says David Mundell
Meantime, a monthly survey shows consumer confidence has rebounded to pre-Brexit levels as shoppers appear to shrug off fears about the economy.
A six-point jump in the GfK Consumer Confidence Index, carried out on behalf of the European Commission, has taken it to minus 1; a level last seen in June, driven by improved expectations for personal finances, perceptions of the general economic situation and intentions to make major purchases.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel