Clark told the Andrew Marr Show that the UK will aim to secure tariff-free access to Europe for the industry, which is "one of our great strengths".
Clark told Marr: “What I said was that our objective would be to ensure that we would have continued access to the markets in Europe – and vice-versa – without tariffs and without bureaucratic impediments and that is how we will approach those negotiations."
"For the continental European car manufacturers, they export a lot to us, we export a lot to them, components go backwards and forwards. If you conduct the negotiations in a serious, constructive and civilised way there is a lot in common that we can establish. I was able to reassure Nissan – and other manufacturers – that that is the way we are going to approach it," he said.
The government cannot directly compensate Nissan if it fails to negotiate tariff-free access to the EU, under competition law, but Clark said it has made four promises: funding for training; increased research into electric cars; increased use of British companies in the car-making supply chain; and tariff-free access to the EU for the sector.