Automobile industry concerned by rising costs of Brexit

David Davis said on Monday 11 December that Brexit will be a ‘calm and orderly’ process, at a round-‎table discussion with the UK’s largest car manufacturers. The discussion was hosted in London by the ‎SMMT, the trade association for the UK motor industry. ‎It was attended by executives from several car makers such as JLR, Nissan, Honda, Ford, Aston Martin ‎and BMW and executives of automotive related companies such as JCB, Caterpillar and GKN. Should ‎Britain fail to complete a deal in the two year period between triggering Article 50 and formally exiting ‎the EU, Britain would most likely automatically revert to being subject to World Trade Organisation ‎rules. That could mean a tariff of as much as 10% put on cars imported into the UK from Europe. In ‎November, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said the price of European made ‎cars could increase by as much as £1,500 ($1,871) unless a favourable trade deal is worked out post-‎Brexit. The Telegraph newspaper reported that SMMT president Gareth Jones made the prediction at ‎the SMMT annual dinner, forecasting a potential cost to the industry of £4.5 billion. It is ‎believed that Mr. Davis did not however make any firm promises or commitments to the car industry ‎at today’s round table discussion. According to the Financial Times, one of the executives who ‎attended the meeting said the politicians were “very non-committal — they were in listening mode”.‎