*By Michael Teich*
Brexit could be a major bump in the road for Aston Martin if it disrupts trade with the automaker's European partners, said the company's CMO Simon Sproule.
"The biggest threat to us of Brexit is non-tariff barriers, because if you end up getting import duties on Astons going into Europe, then you're going to get import duties on Ferraris coming into the UK. So it's a zero-sum game," Sproule said Tuesday in an interview on Cheddar.
The Brexit withdrawal process began March 29, 2017 after a countrywide vote, and the UK is set to depart from the European Union on March 29, 2019.
A new report from the Federation of German Industries said a "hard Brexit" ー meaning in the absence of a deal between the EU and the UK ー could cause exports to Britain from the rest of the EU to drop by as much as [57 percent](https://www.dw.com/en/german-industry-warns-against-hard-brexit/av-45818058).
That kind of trade disturbance would not be good for business, Sproule said.
"What we're lobbying the government most strongly about is to ensure the free flow of parts and obviously completed vehicles," he added.
Aston Martin ($AML.L) is the latest luxury automaker to make its market debut. Despite a rough start on the London Stock Exchange since its Oct. 3 IPO ー shares are down 16 percent since ー Sproule said patient investors will benefit from the company's future growth.
"The IPO was effectively a marker in our evolution," he said. "People that have been buying into us are buying in for the long term. They buy into the equity story, they buy into the future potential of Aston Martin."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/aston-martin-cmo-we-have-no-interest-in-making-cheaper-cars).
October starts with a gov't shutdown averted, some promising data on Covid cases, Facebook whistleblower, Tom Brady returns to Foxboro and the Super Bowl halftime show is set.
Cheddar recommends "BMF" on Starz, "Midnight Mass" and "Squid Game" on Netflix, and the first two seasons of "Succession" on HBO Max.
Jill and Carlo try to make sense of the various happenings in Congress, including what's in these two big spending packages that Dems are trying to get passed. Plus, a big win for Britney Spears in court, YouTube throws down the ban hammer on anti-vax videos and more.
Even as the number of Hispanic-owned businesses in the U.S. has rapidly increased, support from banks has lagged behind. Cheddar's Michelle Castillo reports on the ongoing challenges for some business owners who may also be dealing with the issue of being undocumented.
Video-sharing tech platform YouTube on Wednesday announced immediate bans on false claims that vaccines are dangerous and cause health issues like autism, cancer or infertility.
The approval for Pfizer's vaccine in kids could be delayed slightly, Biden gets involved in Dem negotiations, why everything so expensive, all the devices Amazon announced, and the James Bond movie is finally coming out.
Alex Bell, a Post-Doctoral Scholar at UCLA, joins 'Cheddar Reveals' to discuss how exposure to innovation influences who becomes an inventor and how much genius has been lost over the years.
Jill and Carlo talk government shutdown, spending showdowns, vaccine mandates, Facebook and more. Plus, should felons whose actions changed history be granted clemency? Debate!
Kelly has been convicted in a sex trafficking trial after several accusers testified in lurid detail how he subjected them to perverse and sadistic whims when they were underage.
“Dear Evan Hansen” may have been a hit on Broadway, but the filmed adaptation of the Tony-winning show is off to a slow start at the box office in its first weekend in theaters.
