If we vote for Brexit what happens

A_Medium_Size_Jock

Regarding the PSA buyout of Vauxhall/Opel and concerns for UK jobs, the following is quite interesting:

The UK is the biggest market for the Insignia and Corsa models, sold there under the Vauxhall brand, and Opel ended up booking a 257 million-euro ($271-million) loss for the year.
By contrast, Cologne-based competitor Ford Europe managed to make a pre-taxprofit in 2016 even as sterling plummeted.
"Brexit is a false excuse" for Opel, industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer of the CAR automotive research institute argued, pointing to the manufacturer's other problems.

https://www.thelocal.de/20170305/takeover-of-german-opel-comes-after-years-of-crisis

Maybe then Len McClusky's statement that "It was a relatively positive first meeting in which Tavares gave assurances that current production commitments would be met should the takeover with PSA go ahead." a few weeks ago may carry some weight, since surely no manufacturer would want to potentially risk such a large market? *
http://www.theweek.co.uk/81582/vauxhall-production-guaranteed-until-at-least-2021


* 2016 UK (then all Europe) sales:
Corsa 77,110 (262,939)
Astra 60,719 (250,410)

From those figures it seems that the UK buys approximately a quarter of all European output from those two types alone.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/uk-car-registrations-hit-record-levels-2016-are-tipped-fall-2017

http://carsalesbase.com/european-car-sales-data/opel-vauxhall/opel-corsa/

http://carsalesbase.com/european-car-sales-data/opel-vauxhall/opel-astra/

antrobus

A_Medium_Size_Jock wrote: »

Regarding the PSA buyout of Vauxhall/Opel and concerns for UK jobs, the following is quite interesting:

GM Europe has apparently made losses of $9 billion since 2009. Which means that (a) it's no wonder they want to sell the bl00dy thing, and (b) PSA will be planning to do something to stem the losses.

A_Medium_Size_Jock

GM (GM.N) had committed to build the Astra Sports Tourer model until around 2021 at its Ellesmere Port plant in northern England and Peugeot has said it will honour existing agreements.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-opel-m-a-psa-britain-idUKKBN16D0UK

Further news of the deal from the FT here:
https://www.ft.com/content/fea854f4-023d-11e7-ace0-1ce02ef0def9

A_Medium_Size_Jock

Also today, UK manufacturers see a surge in orders:

Britain's factories are growing at their fastest pace in more than three years, helped by the fall in the value of the pound after the Brexit vote and a recovery in core markets in Europe, a survey showed on Monday.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-economy-idUKKBN16D005

setmefree2

The extent of Britain’s legal obligations is explored in a newly-published House of Lords committee report. The underlying argument is actually quite simple: when treaties fall away, it follows logically that the commitments attaching to them disappear also. For things to be otherwise requires an explicit agreement between those leaving and those who remain (if any).

Article 50 does not provide any provision for an ongoing obligation, let alone one requiring any payments. Quite the contrary, in fact. In its very brevity it points to departure being a clean break. The article says simply that two years after a member state notifies the bloc of its intention to leave, and in the absence of any agreement between them, the treaties fall away altogether.

The EU’s argument is in any case based heavily on its budgeting procedure, in which member states agree to cycles of spending years in advance. The fact that they consent unanimously is thought by Brussels to denote some inalienable commitment. Yet given that the EU has its own separate legal personality, it is hard to see why these liabilities have anything to do with those who cease to be members. After all, the bloc is not some sort of partnership. Its employees work for the EU in its own right, and the organisation has its own spending commitments. According to Barney Reynolds, head of financial institutions at the law firm Shearman & Sterling: “It is essentially more analogous to a corporation, where the member states are akin to shareholders. The UK is departing and handing back its shares.”

Given all this, it is hard to see how Mr Barnier can in good conscience table his bill and demand its settlement as some sort of precondition. This presents a headache for the commission. Britain is one of the largest contributors, accounting in gross terms for roughly 10 per cent of the EU budget. In the absence of a deal, Brussels faces a steep spending cut. Passing the hat round other member states may lead to dissension — especially among eastern countries who have been promised that the UK’s share of cohesion funds is some sort of debt owed to them.

Negotiations on Article 50 have yet to start, but Mr Barnier’s public pursuit of an exit charge threatens to create an impossible situation. In the absence of a valid claim from the EU, there is a question of what, if anything, the UK should pay as part of its departure. The case for stumping up simply for access to the single market is flawed, as a continuing payment would be little more than a one-way tariff. And while a better argument might be to say that the UK should chip in money to gain the EU’s goodwill in discussions over, say, trade or financial services, Mr Barnier’s bill has undermined that. It is hard to earn goodwill when the recipients believe that what they are offered is something they are already owed

https://www.ft.com/content/1aeb72c8-0198-11e7-ace0-1ce02ef0def9

setmefree2

Anti-Brexit billboards have started appearing across the country

Campaigners, dubbed Remoaners, have raised thousands of pounds to erect huge posters in different parts of the country.

They have also arranged for a bus to be driven around Westminster so that lawmakers can ‘see it right up to the final vote.’
The group, Stop the Silence, has attracted more than £70,000 and has received more than 4,0000 likes on Facebook.

http://metro.co.uk/2017/03/05/anti-brexit-billboards-have-started-appearing-across-the-country-6489128/

Conrad

antrobus wrote: »

GM Europe has apparently made losses of $9 billion since 2009. Which means that (a) it's no wonder they want to sell the bl00dy thing, and (b) PSA will be planning to do something to stem the losses.

Vauxhall seemed always behind the times - even the badge, front grill and light clusters look terribly dated. The plastic chrome effect shiny trim on their cars is like something from 1998.


Such uninteresting, un-compelling motors. Lots more people want SUVs and similar these days but I cant even think what the Vauxhall offering looks like, so uninspiring they are.


French car firms have really taken leaps and bounds lately although not my cup of tea personally.

Conrad

setmefree2 wrote: »

http://metro.co.uk/2017/03/05/anti-brexit-billboards-have-started-appearing-across-the-country-6489128/

Imagine their 'liberal' squealing if posters went up proclaiming we did not vote for mass immigration or benefits for spongers.

kabayiri

Conrad wrote: »

Imagine their 'liberal' squealing if posters went up proclaiming we did not vote for mass immigration or benefits for spongers.

It doesn't matter Conrad.

70K won't go far on billboards.

They get more coverage from the Metro article, but tomorrow it will just be yesterday's news.

LHW99

The group, Stop the Silence, has attracted more than £70,000 and has received more than 4,0000 likes on Facebook.

Perhaps Facebook has not yet added its "dislike" button widely enough?

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/facebook-dislike-latest-button-trial-first-time-social-media-network-photos-a7613246.html