According to BMW, a no-deal Brexit would cost half a billion euros through tariffs. To partially compensate for this, the cars would become more expensive.
The carmaker would quickly raise prices for minis in the EU and for BMW cars in Great Britain, said CFO Nicolas Peter on Wednesday in Munich. That should weigh on the sales figures, but “we would adjust the prices. The plans are in the drawer,” said Peter.
Without a trade agreement between the EU and the British, ten percent duty would be due from January 1st on Minis from Oxford, which are sold in the EU, and on BMWs from Germany, which are sold on the island. “That would cost us a mid three-digit million amount.”
Mini-production in England will continue
The logistics, on the other hand, are not a problem, even if the decision is made shortly before New Year’s Eve: Mini-production in England will continue in January without a break. “It may be jerky for the first few weeks,” but “the logistics flows will stabilize relatively quickly.” In the long term, the Mini brand is “flexibly set up”, said the BMW chief financial officer with a view to the production of the Mini Countryman from 2023 in Leipzig and the emerging electric mini factory in China.
We are feeling the renewed corona lockdown in Europe and the USA “in incoming orders. But not in the same order of magnitude as in spring,” said Peter. In China, where the sales figures are growing in double digits, BMW sees “no flattening of demand”. In 2021, he expects continued strong development throughout Asia and strong growth rates in Europe and the USA after the slumps in the current year.
There were no talks about selling the taxi service FreeNow or getting involved with the US transport service provider Uber, said Peter. BMW and Daimler are open to partnerships for their joint mobility services, but nothing bigger is planned: “We are very satisfied with the operational development of the Your Now family” and “are concentrating on the operational development of the business”. In some European cities you can earn money with car sharing. – dpa
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