Jaguar Land Rover’s boss warns Theresa May he may have to lay off thousands of workers under a hard Brexit
Although a hard Brexit could cause job losses, a good deal may lead to the 'best of times', the head of Jaguar Land Rover said on Tuesday
JAGUAR Land Rover’s boss has warned Theresa May he may have to lay off tens of thousands of workers under a hard Brexit.
Dr Ralf Speth told a Birmingham motor summit that Brexit could lead to “the best of times” if done right.
But he called a cliff-edge break that would see sudden customs barriers and tariffs “horrifying”.
Addressing a motor summit in Birmingham directly ahead of the prime minister, Dr Speth said: “If we make the right decisions this could be the best of times. If we make the wrong ones, they could be the worst of times.
“We are absolutely firmly committed to the UK, it’s our home.
“But a hard Brexit will cost Jaguar Land Rover more than £1.2 billion a year - it’s horrifying, wiping our profit, destroying investment in the autonomous, zero-emissions, we want to share.”
Job losses would be “counted into tens of thousands if we do not get the right Brexit deal”, he added.
Mrs May leaped on the warning to insist it was a boost for her Chequers plan.
The PM said: “The automotive industry is very clear, they want to see frictionless trade.
“We have put forward proposals for that in our Chequers plan.”
Earlier the US bank JP Morgan warned that the future of 4,000 British jobs was dependent on the type of Brexit deal secured by the British government.
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