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 The prospect of dismantling Europe's Schengen free-travel agreement
to stem the flow of refugees and migrants worries car executives, as
tighter border controls could also interfere with the traffic of
goods.
"A breakdown of Schengen would be horrific for us," Opel Chief
Executive Karl-Thomas Neumann told reporters.
Opel depends on the unhindered transport of goods and components
from factories in Germany, Spain, Poland, Britain and Italy, Neumann
said.
"We have huge logistics operations in southern Europe, any
disruption would have an immediate impact on the bottom line,"
Neumann said.
Schengen was established over 30 years ago and now counts 26
members, 22 of which are European Union members. To stem an influx
of migrants, some Schengen countries have reintroduced border
controls in recent months, leading to fears the whole system could
collapse.
Opel, the European division of General Motors (GM), has pledged to
turn a profit in 2016, a goal the company reiterated at the Geneva
show. In Europe, GM posted an adjusted loss before interest and tax
of $800 million last year, after a $1.4 billion loss in 2014.
Bernhard Mattes, Ford's Germany boss, said any restrictions on
cross-border movement of goods could severely hamper production.
“We have plants in Germany, Romania, Spain and in England. Our
logistics are geared towards supplying our plants just in time.
That’s the basis for the efficiency of production in Europe – of
course we want to maintain that,” he said.
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Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said his company was already at the
limits of its production capacity thanks to demand for luxury
vehicles including the new GLC and the new E-Class.
Parts need to arrive at the factory to ensure the company's
production system functions seamlessly.
"Our factories are running with one or two hours of time buffer,"
Zetsche said, adding any closing of borders could disrupt the
company's production system.
EU leaders are planning talks with Turkey on March 7 and their own
migration summit on March 18-19. The meetings look like a final
chance to revive a joint response to the crisis before warmer
weather will make it easier to travel across the Mediterranean.
(Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Adrian Croft and Mark
Potter)
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