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Toyota warns on competitiveness after Brexit: report

Toyota has two factories in Britain, an assembly plant in Burnaston in central England and a motor making factory in Deeside in Wales, employing 3,400 people

Japanese car giant Toyota voiced concern on Wednesday about its operations in Britain after Prime Minister Theresa may presented her masterplan for Brexit including withdrawal from the EU's single market. "We have seen the direction of the prime minister of the UK, we are now going to consider, together with the suppliers, how our company can survive," Toyota chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada told the Financial Times at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The activities of foreign car manufacturers could be affected by the clean break outlined by May on Tuesday. In a highly-anticipated speech she said she wants a new free trade agreement with the European Union and a new customs deal that will allow Britain to strike its own deals with third countries outside the EU. "We are considering and discussing with the government how to maintain the competitiveness," Uchiyamada said. But he stressed that the carmaker had not taken any decisions yet and was waiting to see how the European Union would respond to Britain's demands. Toyota has two factories in Britain, an assembly plant in Burnaston in central England and a motor making factory in Deeside in Wales, employing 3,400 people. Toyota's concerns mirror similar worries expressed by competitor Nissan, which in October announced new investment at its Sunderland plant in northeast England after obtaining government guarantees. Toyota has operated in Britain since 1989.