Britain could suffer a landslide of lost jobs if the country votes to leave Europe, the head of the UK’s biggest car maker has warned.
Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn, said he would need to “reconsider the strategy” of his Sunderland-based car plant if the public decided it wanted to leave the European Union.
And a report published at the weekend revealed that more than 1,800 North-East companies would close, with the loss of nearly 40,000 jobs, if Britain severed its ties with Brussels. The effect across the rest of Britain would be just as devastating claimed the manufacturers’ organisation EEF which said “staying in the EU is overwhelmingly best for business”.
Mr Ghosn, who is also chief executive of Nissan’s sister company Renault, had flown into London for the global launch of the Qashqai compact SUV which will be made in Sunderland from January. The company employs 6,500 people on Wearside with another 35,000 in supporting industries.
This is not the first time that Mr Ghosn has issued warnings regarding Britain’s role in Europe. In October 2002, he gave a veiled threat that the Sunderland plant’s future would depend on whether the UK adopted the Euro.
However, Mr Ghosn says that after five years of declining sales the European car market is arriving at “the end of the tunnel”.
The Qashqai — Nissan’s first model to be designed, engineered and built in the UK — has sold more than two-million cars during its six-year lifespan. In all 500,000 cars will be built in Sunderland this year, including the all-electric Leaf which began production in March.
Brussels currently charges a 10pc tariff on all vehicles imported into the union. “It’s obvious that if you have a levy of 10pc per vehicle that making cars here isn’t going to be economical if we are no longer within the European union,” commented Sunderland MP, Julie Elliott. “Staying in Europe is absolutely essential to our regional and national economy.”
Asked about the future of the Sunderland plant, Mr Ghosn said it “would be safe for the time being”, cautiously adding that Nissan would “reconsider our strategy and our investment for the future” in the event of a European exit.
A Bill demanding an EU referendum by 2017, proposed by Stockton South MP James Wharton, is currently making its way through the Commons. It has already received the backing of most Conservative MPs including the Prime Minister, although David Cameron has said he will then campaign for Britain to stay in the EU.
Foreign investors, not just in the North-East but across Britain, have expressed unanimous support for EU membership, while showing an appetite for reform to ensure Britain gets a better deal.
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