Berlin : A hard Brexit might endanger 14,000 of the 42,500 jobs in German car industry, a report published by the consulting firm Deloitte showed on Thursday.

German automobile industry could expect a loss of up to $4.6 billion in the Brexit year, because of the close interdependence of the suppliers with carmakers in Germany, Britain and other European Union countries, said the report named “hard Brexit and supply chain”.

Every fifth car parts used in Britain originates from Germany. German manufacturers supply the British automobile industry directly, and are indirectly involved in the production of German and other European cars exported to Britain, Xinhua reported.

The jobs at risk are all at suppliers to carmakers, should Britain’s negotiations with the EU about their future relationship collapse without a deal.

A no-deal Brexit would lead to the introduction of tariffs and a possible crash in the value of the British pound, making British companies less able to purchase imports.

The sales slumps affect the supply chain indirectly and lower revenue and employment for German suppliers.

“In the Brexit year 2019, a hard Brexit would cause sales of German suppliers to shrink by 23 per cent from 16.4 to 12.6 billion euros, which represents a decline of around 5 per cent of German suppliers’ current total turnover,” Deloitte chief economist Alexander Boersch said.

—IANS