The owner of Vauxhall has been the latest car manufacturer to warn against the consequences of a no-deal Brexit.
Carlos Tavares, the chief executive of PSA, told the BBC that the group’s “number one” request of Brexit talks was free trade.
“If we don’t have free trade conditions then, of course, we will have to adapt,” he said at the Paris Motor Show.
“That may have dramatic consequences for our operations in the UK, which of course we would like to avoid as much as possible.”
“So for us the situation is crystal clear, we need free trade. That’s the number one request,” he added.
PSA owns brands including Vauxhall and Opel and has operations in Ellesmere Port and Luton.
Also speaking at the Paris Motor Show, Toyota (TYO: 7203) warned that a no-deal Brexit could temporarily stop production in the UK.
Toyota’s chief executive, Johan van Zyl, said: “If we have anything that has an impact on your competitiveness of manufacturing in the UK, it will definitely have an impact on future investment decisions.”
“The reason for many manufacturers being in the UK is the fact that they could export to the European market duty free – and that is a critical one.”
Harald Krueger, the BMW (ETR: BMW) chief executive, told journalists at the Paris Motor Show: “I told Theresa May and the European Union that if there is a hard Brexit, both sides are losers. We will no longer fulfil trade agreements and then we are forced to build the car in the Netherlands.”
“Hard Brexit is currently not our main scenario but we are preparing for it. We see a 50:50 chance.”