M-Sport: Brexit is bad for business

M-Sport chief Malcolm Wilson confirmed in the service park at Trier before the start of ADAC Rallye Deutschland 2016 that Great Britain leaving the European Union is bad for his business.  

“It is very early days, but I can tell you at the moment if it continues, the slide of the value of the pound against the Euro is already having a significant impact,” Wilson said.

“Initially it made no difference, but then obviously a big percentage of our parts for the cars are manufactured in Europe outside the UK.  

“As an example, our R5 front cross member as of today is £218 more expensive than it was pre-Brexit, 15-16%, a big percentage and we are having to work on a cost capped price.  On just one item.  

“The pound is worth 15-16% less than it was.  We would like to source more components in Britain, but most of the raw materials come from Europe.  So whichever way you look at it, the raw material is still going to be 15-16% more expensive.   

“It is not really going in the right direction.  You would hope that because it’s so much more attractive to buy cars in the UK because of the exchange rate now, but to be honest we’re not seeing enough increase in sales to absorb the extra cost.”
 
- Martin Holmes

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