BMW has announced plans to shut its UK factory for one month on the same day Britain plans to leave the EU.
The car manufacturer said on Tuesday that it will stop making cars from 29 March 2019 in order to minimise the potential disruption a no-deal Brexit.
A BMW spokesperson said on Tuesday: “Planned annual maintenance periods at BMW Group production sites allow essential updating and equipment replacement to be completed over several weeks, while there is no production taking place.”
“As a responsible organisation, we have scheduled next year’s annual maintenance period at Mini Plant Oxford to start on 1 April, when the UK exits the EU, to minimise the risk of any possible short-term parts-supply disruption in the event of a no-deal Brexit.”
“While we believe this worst-case scenario is an unlikely outcome, we have to plan for it.”
The news from BMW comes amid several warnings from car manufacturers with factories in the UK.
On Monday, Jaguar Land Rover announced that it was introducing a three-day week at its Castle Bromwich plant due to “continuing headwinds impacting the car industry”.
The reduction of worker hours will impact the 2,000 employees based at the factory. Jaguar has said the reduction in hours will preserve the jobs of its employees rather than axing the roles.
On Tuesday, Honda (TYO: 7267) warned that a no-deal Brexit would cost tens of millions of pounds.
Last week Jaguar boss Ralf Speth warned that tens of thousands of jobs in the motor industry will be at risk if a no-deal Brexit goes ahead.
The BMW spokesperson said that the car manufacturer would remain committed to the UK, adding: “We remain committed to our operations in Britain, which is the only country in the world where we manufacture for all three of our automotive brands.”
Shares in BMW (ETR: BMW) are trading at 82,50 (1343GMT).
