BMW could halt Mini production at Cowley in case of 'no-deal' Brexit

BMW joined Toyota on Tuesday issuing a warning on the impact that a 'no-deal' Brexit might have on its UK operations, saying it might have to halt production of Minis at its plant in Cowley.

Both carmakers warned that a 'hard' by the UK from the European Union could cost many British workers their jobs.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Geneva Motor Show, BMW board member Peter Schwarzenbauer, who is responsible for the Mini and Rolls-Royce brands, told Sky News that the future of the Mini brand in the UK was under threat in case of a 'no deal' Brexit.

“This would be really a huge burden for the Mini brand. If this would come, which is the worst-case scenario, we’d need to consider what it means for us in the long run. For Mini this is really a danger.”

He added that: “We at least have to consider [moving their Mini production plant elsewhere] it because we cannot absorb 10% costs on top of it.”

BMW had already announced plans to temporarily suspend Mini production in Oxford during the first week of April in order to absorb the impact of any immediate disruption after Brexit.

Speaking in Geneva at the same event, Toyota’s top executive in Europe said the company's competitiveness, and workers' jobs would be at risk under a no-deal scenario. The Japanese manufacturer employed roughly 3,200 workers at two major manufacturing plants in the UK.

BMW and Toyota were not alone in flagging potential changes to their strategies amid the ongoing Brexit uncertainty, with Nissan having walked back on its 2016 decision to build its new X-Trail sports utility vehicle at its Sunderland plant, at a cost of 700 potential jobs.

And Honda was planning to close its Swindon factory by 2022, threatening at least 7,000 jobs at the plant as well as those in its direct supply chain, while Ford had warned that leaving without a deal would be "catastrophic", both for the company as well as for workers in the UK more generally.