ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the potential impact of a bad departure – either without a deal or with a bad deal – on the United Kingdom (UK) car industry. It argues that the impact could well lead to the ending of vehicle manufacturing in the UK, but while this may seem to be a prediction laden with doom, in fact many countries manage quite well without a vehicle industry and there are examples of societies which have successfully transitioned from having vehicle industries to having no such industry. Australia had a long history of vehicle manufacturing stretching back to the first steam car built in 1896. The case of New Zealand provides more historical context of the end of vehicle assembly. Assembly operations in New Zealand were different from UK manufacturing, in that cars were built from imported kits in low volume in a process known as Completely Knocked Down.
