The chairman of Nissan's European operations has said that the company's business model would be put at risk across the whole continent if the 海角视频 failed to strike a Brexit deal.
Gianluca de Ficchy, Nissan's European chairman, made the comments during a visit to the company's factory in Sunderland where he was supposed to be celebrating the official launch of the new Juke model's production.
The discussion soon turned to Brexit ,saying he wanted to clarify the firm's position and the problems a no-deal would create for the company.
However, he said the quality of the work done on Sunderland since it started production in 1986 meant the business still planned to manufacture there, having made a further investment now, of £100m, for production of the new Juke.
He said: "I know the workforce is concerned and we are concerned. That is why we are here to express our concern and our willingness to find a solution for the future.
“We have a significant number of people, fully dedicated, highly-skilled, enthusiastic and this is the main asset we have that we want to preserve.
“It’s important to have some clear discussion about the future and the situation in which we have to operate.
“There has been many speculations and many discussions about the current uncertainty and current situation related to Brexit and I really wish to clarify the Nissan position.
Most Read
“First, all over last year we have been working together in Europe to define all the risks associated with Brexit coming in.
“We think we are really well prepared, from a logistics point of view, from an operational point of view, for all different scenarios. All of the teams have been working to make sure for all the different scenarios.
Want more business news straight to your inbox?
BusinessLive is your home for business news from around the country - and you can stay in touch with all the latest news through our email alerts.
You can sign up to receive morning news bulletins from every region we cover and to weekly email bulletins covering key economic sectors from manufacturing to technology and enterprise. And we'll send out breaking news alerts for any stories we think you can't miss.
Visit our email preference centre to sign up to all the latest news from BusinessLive.
“Today, as a business, we don’t have a clear understanding of what the evolution of Brexit will be. We don’t know what deal we will have at the moment. We don’t know what a no deal will represent.
“If a no-deal scenario means a sudden application of WTO tariffs our business model will not be sustainable for the future.
“That’s why my message is what we need is clarity and second we want as much as possible to avoid a sudden application of WTO tariffs.
“The problem is that overall European activities cannot support an additional 10% cost on the vehicle that are exported so the complexities that come from that, we are looking at a possible solution, how we can potentially react when things happen if they happen.
More Brexit news
Don’t miss
When asked if the business had considered moving production to another Nissan plant elsewhere, he said a decision could not be made quickly - and suggested the firm remained committed to the North East.
He said: “If you have 160 suppliers bringing products in and have in addition to the 6,000 employees working here 24,000 additional suppliers working in the 海角视频, you cannot envisage from one day to the other to move something somewhere else.
“Our assumption is to continue it in the plant, but every decision that we take you have to carefully analyse it.
“The only thing I can tell you is that any plant decision is not straightforward. It takes time.
“We are conscious about the need to react quickly but no quick decision will be taken.
"There are many analyses we are doing to understand where the losses generated in Europe may be offset by vehicles being made in the 海角视频.”