FEATURE Automotive
Unite fears for auto industry amid govt deafness to Brexit and diesel confusion
Alarm bells are ringing over the future of the car industry because of Brexit, falling sales and confusion over diesel engines – but Unite fears the government is not listening.
Unite has been working with individual car companies and trade bodies to warn of the dangers of trade barriers and tariffs on the crucially important sector.
Unite assistant general secretary Tony Burke describes the automotive industry as the “jewel in the crown” of UK manufacturing – but concern is growing that the crown jewels face being stolen.
Japan’s ambassador to Britain Koji Tsuruoka, gave a stark warning about the impact on business of Brexit after meeting the Prime Minister, accompanied by officials from Honda, Nissan and Toyota. He described Brexit as a high stakes issue, saying that no company would be able to stay in the UK if it was not profitable.
“If there is no profitability of continuing operations in the UK – not Japanese only – no private company can continue operations. So it is as simple as that.”
The three Japanese auto companies build almost half of the 1.67m cars in the UK, and have invested billions of pounds in factories across the country.
But those factories now face a slowdown, with cuts in production, potential loss of jobs and fears about future models because of the uncertainty gripping the industry.
The scale of the problem was revealed with recent figures showing that UK car production went into reverse last year for the first time since the depths of financial crisis in 2009, as Brexit fears took hold and consumers turned their backs on diesel vehicles.
Down 3 per cent A total of 1.67m cars rolled off UK production lines in 2017, down 3 per cent compared with 2016 as demand for British-made cars dropped both at home and abroad.
The number was about 130,000 below the industry’s forecast, largely because of a near 10 per cent fall in domestic buyers as cash- strapped households in Britain were increasingly reluctant to commit to major spending decisions.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders blamed “confusion” over the government’s policy on diesel. The trade body warned 2018 was likely to be another tough year for the UK industry, which is facing the prospect of declining investment and zero growth in production volumes. Companies including Toyota, Jaguar Land
10 uniteWORKS Spring 2018
CAR ALARM?
Rover, and McLaren last year committed to a total of £1.1bn in future investment in the UK, down by a third compared with the £1.66bn committed in 2016 and below the average over the past few years.
“A drop of that magnitude is a concern,” said Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT, as he warned the government needed to provide “urgent clarity” on a transitional Brexit deal so that companies could press ahead with spending decisions. Workers at Vauxhall's Ellesmere Port plant are among those waiting for news of future models.
The company recently warned of hundreds of job losses on top of 400 redundancies announced last year.
Unite convenor at the plant, John Cooper, told uniteWORKS that the Ellesmere Port- built Astra was only recently voted European car of the year – but that hasn't helped sales pick up.
“Brexit is having an undoubted effect, causing economic uncertainty. People are just not prepared to spend £15,000 – £20,000 until they know what is going to happen.
“By now we would have expected to know what replacement vehicle would be built at Ellesmere Port after 2021, but we are
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