Brexit leaves Ford at crossroads on long-term British plans

HALFWEG, Apr 02 (Reuters): Ford is spending tens of millions of euros preparing for a possible British exit from the European Union without a trade deal and has yet to decide on its longer-term plans for Britain, Ford Europe chairman Steven Armstrong said on Tuesday.

"We love being in Britain, but it has to be competitive and if it's not competitive then we'll have to take whatever actions we'll need to take to protect the business," Armstrong told Reuters at an event in the Netherlands.

Ford, which makes 1.3 million engines at two British locations, Bridgend and Dagenham, and cars in Germany, has warned it could face $1 billion in tariff costs in case of a so-called hard Brexit.

While the company has announced 5,000 job cuts in Germany, its second-biggest European market, it has yet to make major decisions in Britain, which is its biggest.

Armstrong said Ford was already spending tens of millions on euros on measures such as currency hedges and shifting inventory between countries. He said the best case scenario was that money spent preparing for Brexit would be "wasted".

Britain's departure from the EU has been pushed back from March 29 until at least April 12 or potentially much later, ruining some of the contingency plans of certain carmakers.