Toyota will not assemble cars at its factory in England, the day after Britain is scheduled to exit the European Union as the automaker sees to evade disruption from a possibly disorderly Brexit.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised that Britain will leave the European Union on Oct. 31 with or without a deal.
Toyota built a little more than 8 per cent of Britain’s 1.52 million cars last year at its Burnaston factory in Derbyshire and began output of its new Corolla compact there earlier this year. In addition to the Corolla, Toyota builds the Avensis midsize car in the UK, according to Automotive News Europe’s European Assembly Map.
“We will have a production pause on the first day of Brexit, which is Friday, Nov. 1., and … then we will restart production on Monday and the Tuesday,” a spokesman said.
“We don’t know what the actual situation will be like. We have already pulled forward a couple of days of extra inventory which we will then use on the Monday and Tuesday and we will have to see what the situation is after that,” he said.
British car factories are integrated into supply chains that can stretch around the world and operate just-in-time manufacturing processes which mean some parts arrive minutes before being fitted onto vehicles rolling off production lines.
Toyota said no volume would be lost from the pause in output.
The autos sector, Britain’s biggest exporter of goods, has been one of the most vociferous opponents of a no-deal Brexit, warning that production would be hit with tariffs, border delays and new bureaucracy, ruining the viability of plants.
