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PSA prepared to close Ellesmere Port plant after no-deal Brexit – report

The PSA Group could close the Vauxhall production plant in Ellesmere Port if the UK leaves the European Union with a 'no-deal Brexit'.


Speaking with the Financial Times, PSA Group boss Carlos Tavares said the company already has alternative production site in Southern Europe lined up for the Astra.

"Frankly I would prefer to put it [the Astra] in Ellesmere Port but if the conditions are bad and I cannot make it profitable then I have to protect the rest of the company and I will not do it,” he said.

“We have an alternative to Ellesmere Port.”

PSA Group has already announced plans to build the next-generation Astra in Russelsheim, Germany as well as Ellesmere Port.

The news comes hot on the heels of a letter from the British car industry to the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, warning a 'no-deal Brexit' poses them an 'existential' threat.

"We are highly integrated with Europe and a no-deal Brexit would result in huge tariff costs and disruption that would threaten production, as well as further undermining international investors' confidence in the UK," Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders CEO Mike Hawes said in the letter.

A no-deal Brexit would see Britain leave the European Union with no formal 'divorce' agreement.

It would leave the single market and customs union designed to facilitate trade between EU nations overnight, instead of gradually extracting itself from the complicated agreements that have governed the relationship since 1973.

Uncertainty surrounding Brexit has already taken its toll on the British car industry. Honda has officially announced it'll close its Swindon operation when production of the current Civic ends, spelling the death of 3500 jobs, while Nissan has cancelled production of the next-generation X-Trail at its facility in Sunderland.

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