The car industry goes into slow motion mode

steemvibes (9)in #steempress • 6 years ago

At nine months out of Europe, investment in the English car industry has halved, seized by doubt about competitiveness.

Investment in the UK automotive industry fell by half in the first half of 2018, mainly due to uncertainties surrounding Brexit, industry professionals said Tuesday. The amounts invested reached 347.3 million pounds (394 million euros) over the period in the UK , whether in new models, equipment and factories, which is two times less than a year later. early, according to figures from the Association of Automobile Manufacturers and Vendors (SMMT).

The association, holding its annual conference in London on Tuesday, attributes this trend to the vagueness over the outcome of negotiations between the UK and the EU on Brexit, preventing builders from embarking on new projects .

"There is a growing frustration in leadership on the poor progress of negotiations," warns Mike Hawes, director general of the SMMT in a speech he must deliver during the day. "The current position, with conflicting messages and red lines, goes against the interests of the UK automotive sector which has prospered by being integrated into the single market and the customs union," he says.

The SMMT recalls that the turnover of the sector has reached a record of 82 billion pounds in 2017, reaping the benefits of past investments, but fears a serious drag because of the lack of clarity on Brexit, nine months of the exit of the EU.

Sales decline
These difficulties also come at a time when automobile sales are falling sharply in the country due to a shift away from diesel. British industry has consistently called for retention in the customs union and the single market to avoid tariffs that are harmful to business. We can see what is happening at the same time in the United States for Harley Davidson hit by new taxes as an EU retaliation against Donald Trump and his steel policy.

The UK automotive sector is exposed to the risks associated with Brexit because, in the absence of national construction, it largely depends on foreign builders located on its soil. Even Land Rover has just decided to pass the production of its Discovery in its factory in Slovakia while defending itself from divesting in Britain.

The group said in a statement that this is a "difficult decision", especially for the job losses it entails. Jaguar Land Rover gives no indication of the number of jobs involved which are mostly temporary contracts, but the agency PA refers to the figure of a few hundred. For the manufacturer, this announcement, which will be effective early 2019, "takes place in our long-term strategy as we transform our business globally." The group, owned by the Indian Tata Motors, has so far been producing the Discovery in both the UK and Slovakia.

Goals down
In the wake of the vote for the Brexit of 23 June 2016, the SMMT had abandoned the target of 2 million vehicles produced per year in the United Kingdom that it had set for 2020, while the EU absorbs the majority of UK car exports.

Warning signs are proliferating in the business community, the president of the main British employers' organization CBI having warned in mid-June that the Brexit threatened to extinguish the automobile sector, if the United Kingdom came out of the customs union with the EU.

Several major manufacturers have cast doubt on their future investments as PSA owns the brand Vauxhall, or the German BMW, owner of Rolls-Royce. On the other hand, Carlos Ghosn for Renault-Nissan had obtained assurances from Theresa May for an adjustment of the conditions of its maintenance in Great Britain.

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