Luxembourg Association Joins EU Automotive Leaders in Calls for Orderly Brexit

The Luxembourg Automotive Suppliers Industry (ILEA) has joined with other EU automotive representatives in efforts to avoid a "no deal" Brexit.

With the Brexit deadline fast approaching, the European automotive industry today made a united call for the UK and the EU to avoid a no deal scenario. The EU's two main organisations representing vehicle and parts manufacturers, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) and European Association of Automotive Suppliers (CLEPA), as well as 21 national associations, including the ILEA, have joined forces to stress the impact a "no deal" Brexit would have on one of Europe’s most valuable economic assets.

Indeed, the EU automotive industry produces 19.1 million vehicles a year and employs 13.8 million people across the wider sector. Fundamental to this has been the deeply integrated nature of the industry, which has sought to maximise single market and customs union benefits to the advantage of businesses EU-wide. European industry chiefs today warned that the repercussions of no deal to this vital sector will be severe. The UK’s departure from the EU without a deal would trigger a seismic shift in trading conditions, with billions of Euros of tariffs threatening to impact consumer choice and affordability on both sides of the English Channel. 

The end of barrier-free trade could bring harmful disruption to the industry’s just-in-time operating model, with the cost of just one minute of production stoppage in the UK alone amounting to €54,700 (£50,000). Meanwhile, WTO tariffs on cars and vans could add €5.7 billion (£5 billion) to the collective EU-UK auto trade bill, raising prices for customers if manufacturers cannot absorb the additional cost. Automotive manufacturers believe that such disruption and cost must be avoided and that all effort should be made to deliver an orderly withdrawal of the UK from the EU.

With so much at stake, these automotive leaders have agreed that it is in the interest of all parties to avoid a no-deal Brexit and deliver a managed withdrawal of the UK from the EU.