Toyota may postpone decision on UK plant until Brexit details emerge

Japanese automaker Toyota could push back a decision on whether to build a new vehicle model in the UK, in order to weigh up the final outcome of Brexit negotiations on the company's plant in Burnaston.

Executive Vice President Didier Leroy told Reuters that a so-called Hard Brexit which involves the introduction of trade tariffs may lead the company to consider other alternative factories to build its new Auris model.

Several car companies have expressed concern after Prime Minister Theresa May admitted that the country would likely cease to be a member of the EU single market when it leaves the bloc.

A decision on where the new Toyota Auris will be made is expected by the beginning of next year.

"By 2018 probably we have to make some decision, but it doesn't mean to start the investment," Leroy said at the Geneva Motor Show.

Britain voted to leave the EU in June 2016 in a monumental decision which has provoked a variety of reactions from businesses, particularly those in the auto industry.

Earlier this year, Nissan had said it was going to reevaluate the competitiveness of its plant in Sunderland as a result of the departure, before eventually committing to the building of its Qashqai and X-Trail SUV vehicles there.

It is not the first time that Toyota has expressed doubt about its willingness to work in a post-Brexit Britain.

In January, the firm's chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada said following May's speech outlining her plan for Brexit negotiations that "we are now going to consider, together with the suppliers, how our company can survive."