The chief executive of Nissan has said he was confident Britain would remain a competitive place to do business after meeting Theresa May in the wake of his warning that his company could halt investment in its car plant after Brexit.
Speaking at the Paris motor show last month, Carlos Ghosn told reporters future spending on Britain’s biggest car factory would depend on a guarantee of compensation if the UK struck a deal with European allies that led to tariffs on car exports.
Ghosn said on Friday: “Following our productive meeting, I am confident the government will continue to ensure the UK remains a competitive place to do business.”
May, who will begin official divorce talks with the European Union by the end of March, said she wanted to continue to back the country’s car industry.
“This government is committed to creating and supporting the right conditions for the automotive industry to go from strength to strength in the UK, now and into the future,” she added in a statement.
A Nissan source told Reuters after the meeting that a decision over whether to build the new Qashqai SUV model in the UK or another country was due to be made by the end of the year.
Nissan’s Sunderland factory, which opened in 1986, employs almost 7,000 people producing about 500,000 Juke, Qashqai and Leaf vehicles a year. This amounts to about a third of the UK’s total car manufacturing.
Nissan is part owned by the French manufacturer Renault, which has raised concerns that production could be moved to France to avoid potential tariffs on exports to the EU if the UK leaves the single market.
Ghosn had said in Paris: “If I need to make an investment in the next few months and I can’t wait until the end of Brexit, then I have to make a deal with the UK government. If there are tax barriers being established on cars, you have to have a commitment for carmakers who export to Europe that there is some kind of compensation.”
In the EU referendum, 61% of people in Sunderland voted to leave.
