David Cameron warns leaving the European Union could leave Cowley's Mini Plant at "serious disadvantage" By Matt Oliver, Local government reporter.

[Could this force BMW to sell MINI?]

http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/news/14...disadvantage_/


A TAX of 10 per cent could be slapped on Minis exported to Europe from Oxford if voters back Brexit, David Cameron has warned.

In an interview with the Oxford Mail, the Prime Minister claimed if the country decides to quit the European Union (EU) it would put the city’s car industry at a “serious disadvantage”.
He said Britain would be forced to adopt World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules while it negotiated new deals with foreign nations, meaning manufacturers here would pay import tariffs on cars shipped to the EU.

He added: “Clearly, there is a risk. Oxfordshire has a very successful, very high-tech trading economy but we do need access to the single market for our goods and services.

“What we have now is complete access to a market of 500 million people and I worry that leaving the single market would mean we have less good access in the future.

“Take one example: the fantastic Mini production at Cowley. If we were outside the single market and if we had to go to WTO rules, we will pay a 10 per cent tax on every Mini we try to sell into Europe.

“About 45 per cent of cars we manufacture in this country go to European Union countries, so we would be at a serious disadvantage.”
\For the Mini One – the lowest-priced model – this could add nearly £1,400 to the recommended retail value of £13,935 when it is shipped across the English Channel.

Mr Cameron’s comments came as Ian Robertson, a boss of Mini owner BMW, urged Britons to remain in the bloc, with a ‘poll of polls’ suggesting the ‘In’ and ‘Out’ campaigns were neck and neck yesterday ahead of the referendum on June 23.

Plant Oxford IT worker Jason Field, from Headington, said he was not concerned for his job, but added it was difficult to know who to believe as sparks flew in the referendum debate.

He said: “I have been listening to the arguments and I think regardless of whether we leave or stay there will not be a huge change straight away.

“Until we actually face either prospect, it is difficult to know what will happen anyway.”

The Prime Minister rejected accusations he was “scaremongering” from Vote Leave, pointing to statements from financial institutions such as the Bank of England that have forecasted market turmoil in the event of Brexit.
He appealed to voters in Oxfordshire to also see the “positive case” for the EU, adding: “There are many more opportunities for people, young people, businesses and entrepreneurs in Oxfordshire if we stay in the single market.”
Bob Price, leader of Oxford City Council, said the impact of Brexit on the city’s car industry at Cowley would be “dramatic”.

He added: “It is not just tariffs we would be concerned about. In the longer term, the likelihood that BMW would continue to invest here would also be diminished if we were outside of the EU.

“Clearly they would move quickly, but it would make us a much less attractive location to export from.”

County Council leader Ian Hudspeth said: “A tax on exports cannot be good for UK businesses.”

Since production of modern Mini models started in 2001, more than 2.5 million of the cars have been built in the city and exported to some 110 countries.

Staff at the plant celebrated their best ever year in January, after record domestic sales of 63,584 in 2015 – up 18 per cent from 2014.
BMW board member for sales Mr Robertson said on Monday that although the case for UK investment was “there anyway... part of the attraction is that ability to export as well as to import, and to do it in the most logistically friendly way”.

Peter Jay, former economics editor at the Times and the BBC, said voters should not base their decision on June’s referendum on “short term” projections.

The former US ambassador and Vote Leave supporter, who lives in Woodstock, said: “We are discussing a question that should look over the next 50 to 100 years, so it is wrong to focus on the economic impact over the next two to four years.”