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This was inevitable really, because British people are so obssessed with badge snobbery and the so called premium German brands. Britain is a huge market for Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche, so any sort of import tariffs are going to hit their profits hard. I'm just surprised it has taken any of them so long to speak up.
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This was inevitable really, because British people are so obssessed with badge snobbery and the so called premium German brands. Britain is a huge market for Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche, so any sort of import tariffs are going to hit their profits hard. I'm just surprised it has taken any of them so long to speak up.
The UK is a very profitable market for premium brands -they'd still make a healthy profit if the absorbed the full 10% WTO tariff - but of course they'll do whatever they so that customers
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It is quite clear that the EU places a much higher priority on a coherent long term future for the EU than the immediate impacts of the UK leaving.
It is probably the case that their sales will fall. Given the British obsession with brand a 10% WTO tariff will make some difference but certainly not eliminate all sales.
Personally I would be far more concerned about UK component and car manufacturers who will find life more difficult in the future with impacts on jobs, than the lot of German premium car makers whose prodects I am unlikely to buy.
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I find it difficult to believe that any major international business or group of businesses will stand idly by and let our glorious politicians make the kind of blunders they are capable of and which could affect trade. Trade is the lifeblood of every manufacturing nation and it is unlikely that the balance of trade will alter significantly. It seems there is the will to hammer out an arrangement which will be pretty much what we have now. Lets hope they take the chance, but be assured that large businesses are behind them pushing hard to keep trade flowing as seemlessly as possible.
Cheer Concrete
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as Korean and Japanese cars would be even more competitive on price.
Don't forget that many Korean and Japanese cars are made in the EU
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I hope brexit will open the door to a good trade relationship with Japan,
that is better than the current EU trade deal with Japan (its not hard, the current deal is complete protectionism on behalf of the EU).
An open Japanese market is good for both countries car industrys and their is no doubt as the UK becomes increasingly crowded and congested, Japanese Kei cars would have plenty of demand.
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EU has just (Dec 2017) signed a trade deal with Japan, which eliminates the barriers Japan imposes. www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42282116 Protectionism? Only when the UK is outwith the EU......
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EU has just (Dec 2017) signed a trade deal with Japan, which eliminates the barriers Japan imposes. www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42282116 Protectionism? Only when the UK is outwith the EU......
I suspect that Japan would love for the UK to have a similar, if not better free trade agreement (I bet there are still areas that will not be completely free trade in the EU-Japan 'deal' [not ratified by the EU parliament yet BTW], given how the EU loves to protect many of its industries and often is just as protectionist as Trump seems to be) than the EU one, as we are one of their major exporting nations and have many Yn Bns tied up in investments in the UK, especially in the automotive and engineering industries.
Its only the EU that is being stupid, stubborn and vindictive with us out of spite. Their loss, along with several £Bns of our membership fees, all because of ego, corruption and following a bankrupt political dogma for a failed project.
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Its only the EU that is being stupid, stubborn and vindictive with us out of spite. Their loss, along with several £Bns of our membership fees, all because of ego, corruption and following a bankrupt political dogma for a failed project.
It's not spite, it's essential for them. They couldn't possibly hope to hold the EU together if Britain were perceived to get a net benefit from leaving, nor can they get the 27 to vote for it (other than the ones who also want to leave).
It might appear pragmatic to allow Britain the advantages of tariff-free trade from the perspective of EU self-interest, but they don't want to do it if there is any chance that Britain will be seen to have benefitted from leaving.
At best it will come down to who blinks first and I wouldn't put my money on May for a variety of reasons, including that her own party is all over the place.
Edited by Manatee on 18/03/2018 at 12:31
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Its only the EU that is being stupid, stubborn and vindictive with us out of spite. Their loss, along with several £Bns of our membership fees, all because of ego, corruption and following a bankrupt political dogma for a failed project.
It's not spite, it's essential for them. They couldn't possibly hope to hold the EU together if Britain were perceived to get a net benefit from leaving, nor can they get the 27 to vote for it (other than the ones who also want to leave).
Hence my comment about political dogma. Like the Marxists/Communists, the EU top brass and their allies in many of their continental governments and the EU parliament cannot see that the current way the EU is set up and works is bad for its citizens (in both the short and long term) and, as it stands and with the 'direction of travel' it WILL fail, sooner or later. They are just sticking one finger in the proverbial dam (the other word used may be banned for its 'other connotation') and the others in their ears or over their eyes, so they don't have to see and hear the truth.
If only they had stopped, politically, at the 'old' Common Market just with a free trade organisation with actual co-operation of mutual issues such as science, security and the environment which we share.
I agree that 'Theresa the appeaser' will likely back down as she usually does, just to be seen to get any deal at all. Unless someone like JRM or suchlike (not Boris [please!]) osuts her from No. 10 and soon, we may end up with the remoaners getting their way which will be far worse, especially if we're then on the hook financially when the EU sinking ship finally goes down. We need to be well away from it and trading vigourously and freely with the rest of the world to make sure the fall of the EU hurts us as little as possible.
If that means, for a while, going on WTO trading rules for cars and some other goods, then I won't be shedding much tears for the German car industry nor their employees (including in the UK), where, in my view, image over actual engineering quality has been sold to the UK punter shamlessly for decades. Perhaps they need a kick up the proverbial rear end to shake them out of their complacency, plus doing so may help stop the rise of corporatist government over th past few decades, where the average voter has been ignored, and is one of the main reasons for the rise of the Far Left and Right in many EU nations, including our own.
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as Korean and Japanese cars would be even more competitive on price.
Don't forget that many Korean and Japanese cars are made in the EU
You do have a point there as regards KIA/Hyundai - but what about the Japanese makes other than Nissan (and most of those sold in the UK [barring the Micra] are built in Sunderland, though Nissan-Renault parts may be sourced from the continent)? Aren't most solely built in the UK or imported direct from Japan or other Far Eastern countries which won't be affected?
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Journey from Chepstow to Bangor:
Porsche 911 Turbo S
TIME TAKEN:
3hr 49min
AVERAGE SPEED: 49.8mph
Result - happiness.
Smart Fortwo 90hp Prime Auto
TIME TAKEN:
3hr 58min
AVERAGE SPEED: 47.9mph
Result - misery
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Not according to Andrew Frankel who wrote the piece!
"....once it had acquired both some speed and some free air in which to run, the Smart was not only commendably rapid in give and take conditions, it was terrific fun too.
"The Smart was startlingly good in slow corners, diving into the apex, clinging on doggedly and then offering unlimited traction at the exit. The twin-clutch gearbox is still not perfect but now eminently bearable and the engine makes up in sheer enthusiasm much of what it lacks in outright grunt. In short, I started the journey hoping to be mildly amused by the Smart but prepared to be bored to death, but in the end I arrived in Anglesey thoroughly entertained."
That's not to malign the Porsche though:
"I drove the 911 home. The Smart was good – unexpectedly so, to be honest – the Porsche not one whit better than I expected. Which is to say it was sublime."
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This is a much bigger than what happens to a few German car makerrs.
1. The EU are more concerned with the EU. A few £bn of exports mainly from one country are a sacrifice worth making to maintain the grand european dream.
2. Without agreements on trade in new cars UK exports to the EU will be penalised. Fiat, Renault etc will happily fill the gap in this segment which is price sensitive.
3. Car components will be subject under WTO rules to a 4.5% tariff. Over time mainland EU manufacturers will be incentivised to source components from EU.
In summary:
- the German car industry will lose sales
- the French and Italian manufacturers may increase sales
- UK component and car sales will lose exports
- UK car prices will increase somewhat due to increased component costs and tariffs
All this is bad news for the UK and jobs. We may end up with trade agreements with China, Japan, India, US etc which will offset or even exceed the impact of EU WTO tariffs. But at the moment I would judge this to be completely aspirational rather than a realistic expectation.
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We presume in this doom scenario that it's now beyond our wit to actually make products which our own people will want to buy, i don't think it is.
In the case of cars there are excellent factories turning out well made cars in this country, the designs may not be to everyone's tatse, but that isn't the fault of the people in the factories actually producing the things, a Burnaston built Toyota i would suggest can stand alongside any Japanese produced Toyota in terms of build quality...and both will be streets ahead of German products in reliability and durability.
It's also not the fault of the workers of this country that we've had the most incompetent govts of all time in place for the last 30 years, that is the fault of the electorate or who still can't get it that whilst you keep voting for Pinky or Perky you will always end up with a Pinky and Perky govt.
I have more faith in the real people of this country than to imagine we are somehow doomed without our collective mummy petting us children on our heads.
No, putting right the destruction of British industry, started under ther leadership of one Thatcher and continued under the regimes that have followed, isn't going to happen overnight, and some real belt tightening where providing for millions on welfare is going to have be revised (austerity? we don't know the meaning of the word), and keeping foreign dictators in private jets and mansions will be stopping too, and about blinking time.
Of course none of this will happen because we have govts and elected representatives who have no intention of actually leaving, the current Russian farce (where the only highly trained assassin they could find left a trail of evidence a 4 year old would find just too good for words, please, its just too silly to be taken seriously) is just the latest false flag wheeze in the project fear ongoing operation, presumably we're much safer with the fourth reich, that worked out so well the last two times.
Edited by gordonbennet on 19/03/2018 at 08:18
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