Porsche: No-deal Brexit could make cars 10 percent more expensive
Porsche has warned British customers that a chaotic Brexit could hike the price of cars purchased from the German manufacturer by up to 10 percent.
In a letter seen by Bloomberg and British media outlets, Porsche said customers who paid deposits after January 17 might have to pay the additional duty if there is no UK-EU Brexit deal and their car arrives in the United Kingdom after March 29.
The duty would help cover import costs that could arise if the United Kingdom introduces World Trade Organization (WTO) tariffs on EU goods, the Volkswagen-owned company said. It added that customers could adjust their purchases if needed.
Read more: Brexit vote defeat increases no-deal fears for UK car industry
The manufacturer’s most affordable car, the Cayman, could jump in price from 44,074 pounds (€50,315, $56,838) to 48,481 pounds if the plan goes ahead.
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe
June 2016: ‘The will of the British people’
After a shrill referendum campaign, nearly 52 percent of British voters opted to leave the EU on June 24. Polls had shown a close race before the vote with a slight lead for those favoring remaining in the EU. Conservative British Prime Minister David Cameron, who had campaigned for Britain to stay, acknowledged the ‘will of the British people’ and resigned the following morning.
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe
July 2016: ‘Brexit means Brexit’
Former Home Secretary Theresa May replaced David Cameron as prime minister on July 11 and promised the country that “Brexit means Brexit.” May had quietly supported the remain campaign before the referendum. She did not initially say when her government would trigger Article 50 of the EU treaty to start the two-year talks leading to Britain’s formal exit.
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe
March 2017: ‘We already miss you’
May eventually signed a diplomatic letter over six months later on March 29, 2017 to trigger Article 50. Hours later, Britain’s ambassador to the EU, Tim Barrow, handed the note to European Council President Donald Tusk. Britain’s exit was officially set for March 29, 2019. Tusk ended his brief statement on the decision with: “We already miss you. Thank you and goodbye.”
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe
June 2017: And they’re off!
British Brexit Secretary David Davis and the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, kicked off talks in Brussels on June 19. The first round ended with Britain reluctantly agreeing to follow the EU’s timeline for the rest of the negotiations. The timeline split talks into two phases. The first settles the terms of Britain’s exit and the second the terms of the EU-UK relationship post-Brexit.
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe
July-October 2017: Money, rights, and Ireland
The second round of talks in mid-July began with an unflattering photo of a seemingly unprepared British team. It and subsequent rounds ended with little progress on three phase one issues: How much Britain still needed to pay into the EU budget after it leaves, the post-Brexit rights of EU and British citizens, and whether Britain could keep an open border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe
November 2017: May pays out?
Progress appeared to have been made after round six in early November with Britain reportedly agreeing to pay up to £50 billion (€57 billion/$68 billion) for the “divorce bill.” May had earlier said she was only willing to pay €20 billion, while the EU had calculated some €60 billion euros. Reports of Britain’s concession sparked outrage among pro-Brexit politicians and media outlets.
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe
December 2017: Go-ahead for phase two
Leaders of the remaining 27 EU members formally agreed that “sufficient progress” had been made to move on to phase 2 issues: the post-Brexit transition period and the future UK-EU trading relationship. While May expressed her delight at the decision, European Council President Tusk ominously warned that the second stage of talks would be “dramatically difficult.”
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe
July 2018: Boris and David resign
British ministers appeared to back a Brexit plan at May’s Chequers residence on July 6. The proposal would have kept Britain in a “combined customs territory” with the EU and signed up to a “common rulebook” on all goods. That went too far for British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson and Brexit Secretary Davis. They resigned a few days later. May replaced them with Jeremy Hunt and Dominic Raab.
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe
September 2018: No cherries for Britain
The Chequers proposal did not go down well either with EU leaders, who told her at a summit in Salzburg in late September that it was unacceptable. EU Council President Tusk trolled May on Instagram, where he captioned a picture of himself and May looking at cakes with the line: “A piece of cake perhaps? Sorry, no cherries.” The gag echoed previous EU accusations of British cherry-picking.
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe
November 2018: Breakthrough in Brussels
EU leaders endorsed a 585-page draft divorce deal and political declaration on post-Brexit ties in late November. The draft was widely condemned by pro- and anti-Brexit lawmakers in the British Parliament only weeks earlier. Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab resigned along with several other ministers, and dozens of Conservative Party members tried to trigger a no-confidence vote in May.
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe
December 2018: May survives rebellion
In the face of unrelenting opposition, May postponed a parliamentary vote on the deal on December 10. The next day, she met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to seek reassurances that would, she hoped, be enough to convince skeptical lawmakers to back the deal. But while she was away, hard-line Conservative lawmakers triggered a no-confidence vote. May won the vote a day later.
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Brexit timeline: Charting Britain’s turbulent exodus from Europe
January 2019: Agreement voted down
UK parliament 432 to 202 against May’s Brexit deal in a parliamentary vote on January 16. In response to the result, European Council President Donald Tusk suggested the only solution was for the UK to stay in the EU. Meanwhile, Britain’s Labour Party called for a vote of no confidence in May, her second leadership challenge in as many months.
Porsche manufactures all of its cars outside the United Kingdom, so any duty would affect all of its car sales there in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
Specter of no deal
The company’s warning to customers has come amid increasing concerns that London and Brussels could fail to strike a Brexit deal before the end of March.
Read more: Citing Brexit, British airline Flybmi ceases operations
British Prime Minister Theresa May is under pressure from lawmakers in London to scrap a provision in a draft deal that would keep the United Kingdom tied to EU rules until both sides agree on a replacement trade deal.
European leaders say they are unwilling to reconsider any part of the draft deal.
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/porsche-no-deal-brexit-could-make-cars-10-percent-more-expensive/a-47559066?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf