This announcement that BMW is to invest a billion euros in a new factory in Hungary (HERE) will go down well in Cowley I'm sure. Oliver Zipse, a BMW board member said, “Our new plant in Hungary will also be able to manufacture both combustion and electrified BMW models – all on a single production line,” A year ago they said they were to build the new electric version of the mini in the UK (HERE).
Remember, BMW have also expanded it's contract operation at VDL Nedcar in Holland where staff levels are now higher than at Cowley (HERE). BMW are giving themselves plenty of post Brexit options, none of them good for Cowley or for the prospects of increasing exports to the EU.
This comes on the day the SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders) say UK vehicle output fell 47% in June (HERE) and warned that no UK manufacturer was ready for a departure date of March 2019.
The BBC report the UK car industry is suffering a perfect storm (HERE)
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said June's figures "demonstrate the risks of judging automotive performance one month in isolation, with numerous and varied factors creating a perfect storm for home market output".
More than eight out of ten cars made in Britain are exported and the SMMT said that this had continued to drive production with overseas orders helping to "bolster disappointing domestic demand".
It said overseas orders were "broadly stable" in the first half of this year, meaning car production was down just 3.3% for the first half of the year. But Mr Hawes said the reliance of the UK market on exports demonstrated the importance of the industry's "dependency on free and frictionless trade".
He said any disruption to this due to Brexit "risks undermining" this.
Yesterday we see leaked reports from Dover District Council pointing to chaos at the port next year if we exit without a deal. Which government is going to undermine the entire car industry in the UK? Watch out for an extension, capitulation or a fudge.
