Speaking at the SMMT International Automotive Summit in London, he told delegates: “From multinationals to small specialist suppliers, the automotive industry was almost unambiguous in its support for a Remain vote. I do not doubt that these will be difficult times for Britain, particularly British employers. We are facing a period of uncertainty, and we do not know how long it will last.
“If there is one thing I have learnt during my time in office however, it is that the vehicle manufacturing industry is forward-thinking, innovative and does not shirk from challenges, but rises to them. Those qualities have helped you to become one of Britain’s most successful manufacturing sectors, and those are the qualities that will help us all make it through the months and years ahead.
“So, what happens next for Britain, for manufacturing and the automotive industry? This decision creates a number of large, complex issues that we will all need to work together to overcome and we are sailing into untested waters. But we are far from rudderless. Contrary to some of the more alarmist headlines, the business of government continues. I have been in regular touch with the heads of some of our biggest companies to reassure them and hear their concerns.
“The UK automotive sector has been a model of co-operation between government and industry. A vehicle rolls off our production lines once every 16 seconds, most destined for export. Last year, we built more cars than at any other point in the past decade. Politicians and engineers are now coming together to do what is right for British business, and what is right for British jobs. That is what is going to matter going forwards.
“The decision the British people made will undoubtedly create challenges. But it also gives us a unique opportunity to re-build from the ground up in a way that really works for Britons, its employers and workforce, and I want hear from the automotive industry during this process.
“It is almost 170 years since a young German called Werner von Siemens arrived in Britain to set up what would become one of the world’s biggest engineering firms. In a letter to his brother, he wrote that: “England is the place if anything is to be done”. This was long before the EU, long before the common market, and Britain was the place for business.
“That is still the case. Britain is open for business, and Britain will remain open for business. This country is bigger than any political faction. Now is the time to come together as a nation and do what is right for our economy and our country,” he added.