The French carmaker that owns Vauxhall, PSA, could pull all production from Ellesmere Port in Cheshire if the British factory becomes unprofitable after Brexit.
The company’s chief executive, Carlos Tavares, told the Financial Times the business would switch to a plant in southern Europe to build Vauxhall Astra and Opel Astra cars if the UK did not achieve a satisfactory outcome when leaving the EU.
The Ellesmere Port plant employs more than 1,000 workers. If it closed, it would leave Vauxhall’s Luton-based van plant as the company’s last presence in the UK.
Tavares told the FT: “I would prefer to put it [the Astra car] in Ellesmere Port but if the conditions are bad and I cannot make it profitable, then I have to protect the rest of the company and I will not do it.”
He added: “We need visibility on customs for parts coming from continental Europe or from the rest of the world, and we need visibility on the customs for cars coming out of the UK to continental Europe. Those are the only things we need – everything else we’ll take care of.”
His comments came after the UK’s car trade body warned Boris Johnson on Friday that a no-deal Brexit posed an “existential threat” to the car manufacturing industry in the UK.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said: “No-deal Brexit is simply not an option.”
The PSA Group warned in June that it would build its new Vauxhall Astra at its Ellesmere Port plant only if the UK avoided a no-deal Brexit. The Astra is the bestselling model produced under the Vauxhall and Opel brands.
Several senior cabinet ministers have said that Boris Johnson is “turbo-charging” preparations to leave the EU without a deal on 31 October.
Leaving the EU without a deal would trigger customs checks and tariffs for importers and exporters.
Writing in the Sunday Times, Michael Gove said the government was “working on the assumption” of a no-deal Brexit on 31 October.
Other car manufacturers in the UK have expressed concern over Brexit uncertainty. Earlier this year, the Japanese car producer Nissan decided to build the next X-Trail model in Japan instead of Sunderland.
