Ford Europe spending tens of millions on Brexit: chairman

[April 02, 2019]  HALFWEG, Netherlands (Reuters) - Ford is already spending tens of millions of euros to prepare for the possibility Britain could leave the European Union without a trade deal in place, Ford Europe chairman Steven Armstrong said on Tuesday.

Ford, which makes engines in Britain and cars in Germany, has warned it could face $1 billion in tariff costs in case of a hard Brexit.

In an interview at an event in the Netherlands, Armstrong told Reuters the company 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 the money spent preparing for Brexit would be "wasted".

(Reporting by Toby Sterling. Editing by Jane Merriman)

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