Toyota threatened that it may end production in the UK if the country dives out of the European Union on undesirable terms, joining other automakers evaluating their operations in Britain as discussions toward Brexit drag out.
“If the business environment becomes very difficult to operate, of course those types of decisions should be on the agenda,” Johan van Zyl, the Japanese company’s head of Europe, told reporters at the Geneva auto show on Wednesday. “But hopefully we will be able to avoid” a withdrawal, he said.
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The Toyota executive’s comments follow Nissan’s decision last month to default on plans to develop the X-Trail SUV in England and Honda’s announcement to end manufacturing in the country in 2021. Britain has long been a Japanese hub for European auto production, with Honda, Nissan and Toyota operating three of the country’s six largest factories.
