Brexit Could Result In Nissan Increasing Its Market Share In UK

If a hard Brexit results in tariffs on car imports between the UK and the rest of Europe, Nissan is considering focusing on its Sunderland plant while cutting European production, according to two people involved in the discussions.

This contingency plan would see the carmaker closing its factory in Barcelona and moving production of the Micra supermini from France to Sunderland in the UK, as reported by the Financial Times.

The Japanese brand would then use the Sunderland plant to win market share from rivals without UK production, especially if the likes of Ford and Volkswagen were forced to pay import tariffs to ship EU-built cars to the UK.

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Yet, Nissan’s public position is that if the UK fails to maintain tariff-free access to the EU, its Sunderland plant would suffer as well.

“We deny such a contingency plan exists,” stated a Nissan Europe spokesman. “We’ve modelled every possible ramification of Brexit and the fact remains that our entire business both in the UK and in Europe is not sustainable in the event of WTO tariffs.”

“We continue to urge UK and EU negotiators to work collaboratively towards an orderly balanced Brexit that will continue to encourage mutually beneficial trade.”

Nissan abandoning its mainland European business is a reflection of how far the company’s fortunes have declined after sales fell 17% to 567,000 vehicles last year.

Of course, other carmakers are also hip to the idea of growing in the UK following a hard Brexit, with PSA boss Carlos Tavares promising to step up his company’s presence at its Ellesmere Port plant in Cheshire.