
Honda Plans to Leave Britain as Brexit Draws Close - CaliforniaKarl
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/18/business/brexit-honda.html
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DyslexicAtheist
I remember working in telecommunications in "high-cost" sites. Even when there
wasn't a portfolio consolidation due to some merger, people were constantly
living with the fear of heaving their jobs moved to "lower-cost" countries.

When I read such news, I automatically wonder how much of this is because the
company wanted the option to move some other place anyway and now Brexit gives
them that excuse. I'm not saying that's always the case (especially with
smaller companies or what is referred to as the "Mittelstand" in Germany). But
in a climate where an employer can simply open a new site in a more forward
looking region/climate (and be welcomed with state funding promises by that
country), it would make sense.

EDIT: this guy on twitter has been tracking the companies that plan to
downsize or leave UK due to brexit:
[https://twitter.com/uk_domain_names/status/10669721715185582...](https://twitter.com/uk_domain_names/status/1066972171518558208)

for the automotive specifically:
[https://twitter.com/uk_domain_names/status/10539482087984168...](https://twitter.com/uk_domain_names/status/1053948208798416896)

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pjc50
Moving back to Japan is hardly the low cost option.

~~~
simonh
They already have factories and extensive supply chains in Japan, so it’s not
necessarily all that expensive, especially if the Swindon plant needs re-
tooling for new models. Typically such decisions coincide with plant and
tooling refresh cycles.

Remainer though I be, looking at it objectively I suspect this has more to do
with the recent EU trade deal with a Japan. Cars made in Europe were exempt
from import duties, but now that import duties on cars from Japan are going
away that incentive is going away with it.

But then making cars in the UK may become liable to EU import duties after
brexit, and we wouldn’t benefit from reduced duties selling our native cars
into Japan either, so there are a lot of increased risks over here.

Brexit hasn’t happened, so it’s hard to draw a straight line between any one
event like this and Brexit. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a factor and we do know
investment in the UK has collapsed over the last few years, particularly in
manufacturing.

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luka-birsa
I'm literarly hanging on the edge of the seat in this self inflicted
catastrophe that is Brexit.

I view it as an experiment in what happens when common sense fails to win in
an election.

I'm a EU citizen and Brexit will have negative impact, but I really want them
to see this through, preferably in a no deal fashion.

I want to see what happens. Was it realy project Fear, or - what I belive -
this will spell total shit for UK for comming years and decades.

~~~
jmnicolas
It will be "total shit" because the EU wants to punish the UK so the other
European countries stay in line.

~~~
NeedMoreTea
Hardly punishing. We can no longer use the pool because we resigned gym
membership. That's not exactly innovative. The same deal for paying members
and non members would be a very unusual association.

It will be total shit because those who most vocally backed Brexit are amongst
the first relocating themselves and their businesses. Like Britain's richest
Jim Ratcliffe, Dyson etc.

~~~
repolfx
"Using the pool" is not a good analogy here.

The EU has been trying to force airlines to become majority EU owned. That's
not a "pool" that's being "used". It's a simple economic attack in retaliation
for leaving.

The EU also tried to force euro clearing out of London _again_ , although it
appears they just gave up on that and ESMA decided the EU would allow it to
continue in the UK. Which is odd because losing the financial passport was
supposed to spell certain doom for the Euro clearing market, but apparently it
wasn't that easy for the EU to forcibly relocate all that business. Being able
to sell services to people in Europe is not a pool - it's the absence of
artificial blockades.

The EU is doing or threatening to do lots of things that aren't comparable to
a sports club. In fact it would appear that most of the "benefits" of EU
membership appear to merely be the absence of various forms of economic
attack. There's no technical reason why the EU has to implement these policies
after all. It's just that if they didn't impose artificial penalties on non-
members, membership would be even less attractive than it already is.

~~~
NeedMoreTea
Great. European carriers get the strongest protections for delays, lost
luggage and what have you. Something UK citizens can keep.

Doesn't, to me, seem an economic attack. A non EU carrier can still fly to and
from the EU. It merely _potentially_ limits flying slots within the EU. Want
to fly Paris to Madrid route, be an EU carrier. That seems to hold with the
analogy. Pretty sure US and other nations have limits on internal routes too.

Incidentally, in preparation for a no deal farce, Ryanair are reregistering
some planes in the UK to still have the option of flying our few internal
routes.

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0xADEADBEE
It's worth noting that a lot of major car manufacturers have raised concerns
about this:

\- Nissan cited Brexit as a reason for not building one of its latest models
in England

\- Jaguar/Land Rover is cutting jobs citing 'geopolitical reasons'

\- Toyota has warned against Brexit

All taken from:
[https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47225787](https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47225787)

As an expat, I'm fascinated to see how Brexit will play out.

~~~
argd678
It’s interesting how every company that suddenly leaves the UK as the deadline
approaches says it’s due to some other reason and factors.

Even if it were true, it does bring up that when you destabilize an economy by
adding uncertainty it puts you at more risk when weathering the other normal
economic bumps. So what breaks the camel’s back may not be Brexit, but you’ve
added a lot of burden to make a straw a bigger concern now.

~~~
pjc50
> It’s interesting how every company that suddenly leaves the UK as the
> deadline approaches says it’s due to some other reason and factors.

Nobody wants to get in a fight with the Brexit press.

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kozikow
[https://outline.com/advb7U](https://outline.com/advb7U)

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Illniyar
"All European market production is being consolidated to Japan, where the
company is based"

Doesn't seem to be related to brexit.

~~~
glenndebacker
There is only one Honda plant in the EU. Also because of the new trade deal
between the EU and Japan it’s possible cheaper for them to export from Japan
than a UK because of the brexit (regardless if there is a deal)

~~~
dingaling
> There is only one Honda plant in the EU

That's not correct; there is an auto parts factory in Belgium and a light-
machinery plant in France ( my lawnmower and generator hail from there ).

They are also planning to close the Civic production factory in non-EU Turkey
which produced the saloon to import to the EU, to complement Swindon's
hatchback.

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holri
Meanwhile Austria's chancellor Kurz is visiting Honda [1]...

(Austria has a strong automotive industry)

[1] [https://www.bundeskanzleramt.gv.at/-/bundeskanzler-kurz-
sued...](https://www.bundeskanzleramt.gv.at/-/bundeskanzler-kurz-suedkorea-
und-japan-bieten-viele-chancen-fur-oesterreich)

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RickJWagner
Per the BBC, this has nothing to do with Brexit:

"Honda said the move was due to global changes in the car industry and the
need to launch electric vehicles, and it had nothing to do with Brexit."

[https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47287386](https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47287386)

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jzl
Good update on Brexit yesterday from Last Week Tonight:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaBQfSAVt0s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaBQfSAVt0s)

This answered a lot of questions that I (an American) was wondering about the
current state of things.

The most telling moment is when a man who imports flowers says that his entire
business will probably be ruined by Brexit, but then goes on to say that he
voted to leave. When pressed further about whether he considered his business
when he voted, he says "I didn't really think about it."

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i_feel_great
You Americans might laugh at this, but then you voted Trump. Us Aussies have
our own shitty politicians, so we are not laughing.

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jzl
Are you familiar with the show? No American viewer of Last Week Tonight is so
lacking in self-awareness that they would condescendingly "laugh" at Brexit as
if their own country was doing fine. There's nothing contradictory about
thinking Brexit and Trump are both fiascos. The point of the segment (and the
show in general) is to inform, not to laugh.

Also, no American host would ever really do a segment like this. John Oliver
is British so he has a unique sort of soapbox being the host of a show whose
audience is primarily in the US. That cross-cultural dynamic is one of the
things that makes the show unique.

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JumpCrisscross
—-

~~~
enraged_camel
How is Amazon’s pulling out of NY related to Brexit?

