With the odds shortening all the time on a no deal Brexit, UK car manufacturing is staring into the abyss. Contributor Alex Buttle, director of car buying comparison website – Motorway.co.uk.
The problem is that right now no one really knows what the consequences will be if we leave the EU with no deal. There is a torrent of negative news regarding it being the end of the world for the car industry and that in itself is crushing consumer confidence.
And the last thing consumers are going to do when there is so much uncertainty swirling around is buy large ticket items like new cars. Consumer confidence needs a boost from somewhere to get domestic demand back on track, or our over reliance on the export market leaves the EU holding all the trump cards.
The current withdrawal agreement that’s on the table doesn’t give UK car manufacturers the reassurances they need, or any kind of optimism that something will change for the better with a new EU trading agreement. The current situation is the worst of all worlds.
These are perilous times for auto manufacturing and no one is quite sure what anyone’s next move is going to be. That is going to weigh heavily on production figures.
It’s likely the pain is only going to get worse from here and output numbers are likely to keep falling until we have a clear picture what deal (or no deal) we will be leaving the EU with next year.
