TOKYO: Any final exit by Britain from the European Union that worsens business conditions through increased tariffs would threaten the sustainability of Nissan Motor Co‘s UK operations, the Japanese car maker’s chief operating officer cautioned.
Nissan, which employs 7,000 people at Britain’s biggest auto plant in the northeastern city of Sunderland called in June for an “orderly balanced Brexit”.
But the latest warning comes as the EU cautions Britain it has fewer than 10 days left to secure a deal governing trade from next year.
“If it happens without any sustainable business case, obviously it is not a question of Sunderland or not Sunderland, obviously our UK business will not be sustainable, that’s it,” Ashwani Gupta, Nissan’s chief operating officer (COO), told Reuters on Wednesday.
Almost 11 months after it formally quit the union, Britain and the EU have still not worked out a deal to cover nearly $1 trillion in annual trade following a transition period that has kept…