INSIGHT
Remain or leave? Car makers confront hard Brexit choices
Manufacturers face disruption to output and supply chains as Britain readies to leave the EU on March 29
In three cavernous former Royal Air Force hangars at an old airbase in Wales, luxury car maker Aston Martin is forging ahead with construction of a new vehicle assembly plant. The paint shop is in, robots are being unpacked, and production of the company's critical new sport utility vehicle is on track to start this year — Brexit deal or no deal. “I still have to believe that we’ll get to a proper and right decision because a no-deal Brexit is frankly madness,” Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer said at the company’s Gaydon headquarters in England, where designers are working on a diverse line-up of vehicles for the 2020s and beyond. Headlines have focused on plant closures and job losses ahead of Britain’s divorce from the EU. Nissan has scrapped plans to build its new X-Trail SUV in the country, while Honda will close its only UK car plant in 2021 with the loss of up to 3,500 jobs — though it said the decision was not related to Britain’s exit from the EU. However many auto companies — ...
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