LONDON: Japan’s Nissan will decide by the end of the year whether to build its new Qashqai SUV model at Britain’s biggest car plant, a source said, after chief executive Carlos Ghosn met Prime Minister Theresa May to seek reassurance over the impact of Brexit.
Just weeks after telling Britain that he could scrap new investment unless he got a guarantee of compensation for costs related to Brexit, Ghosn held talks with May in her Downing Street residence in central London.
Businesses have been concerned that Britain is headed towards a “hard Brexit”, which would leave it outside the European single market and facing tariffs of up to 10 per cent on car exports.
Nissan, which made nearly one in three of Britain’s 1.6 million cars last year, already builds the Qashqai sport utility vehicle at its Sunderland plant in northern England. The time it takes to bring a new car into production means Nissan needs to decide on the location of its next-generation model soon.
“The decision-making process is in the next few weeks and months with a decision expected before the end of the year,” a company source said, adding that the location might not be announced until early next year.
The source also said that a further meeting between May and Ghosn had not been scheduled but that senior Nissan and government officials would continue meeting in the coming weeks.
After speaking to May, Ghosn did not disclose whether the issue of compensation had been raised.
The government has said it would do everything it could to encourage, develop and support strategic sectors of the economy such as car manufacturing. May said yesterday she would co-operate with the Japanese carmaker in the future.