Toyota boss warns of ‘big challenges’ for Burnaston plant in ‘no deal’ Brexit scenario

The boss of car manufacturing giant Toyota, which has a major factory in Burnaston, near Derby, has branded a no deal Brexit as “terrible”, which would create “big additional challenges” to Toyota’s UK operations’ competitiveness.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Didier Leroy said Toyota’s investment in its Burnaston plant was made on “significant trust in the UK that they would be able to achieve a good deal in Europe”.

He stressed, however, that Toyota had no plans to leave the UK.

Toyota’s UK operations are the exclusive European production centre for the new Corolla. Toyota invested £240m in upgrading the factory to bring it up to speed.

The Burnaston factory has been operating since 1992 and is supported by a Toyota engine plant in Deeside, North Wales. It has built Carina, Avensis and Auris models and, for some years, an earlier Corolla hatchback model.