Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. has denied that it is looking to exit mainland Europe and instead invest heavily in the U.K. if Britain leaves the European Union without a deal, the Financial Times reported Feb. 2, citing a company spokesman.

In a statement to the newspaper, the spokesman said: "We deny such a contingency plan exists. ... We've modeled every possible ramification of Brexit and the fact remains that our entire business both in the U.K. and in Europe is not sustainable in the event of [World Trade Organization] tariffs," the company spokesman reportedly said.

The statement was in response to an earlier report by the newspaper that said Nissan has a plan in place to pull out from Europe if Brexit results in car export tariffs and double down on the U.K. instead, as it believes the company could sell one in five cars in the country.

The report, which cited two people involved in the talks, said the plan involves Nissan potentially closing its struggling van facility in Barcelona, Spain, and stopping production at its facility in France. It also reportedly calls for Nissan maintaining operations at its Sunderland plant in the U.K. as the carmaker seeks to grow its market share in the country.

Back in October 2019, Nissan ended night shifts at its Sunderland plant amid uncertainty over the impact of Brexit. Nissan at the time told the FT that it was "waiting for clarity" on the U.K.'s exit from the EU before it decides on the next step for its plant. Nissan had flagged significant job cuts at the Sunderland plant under a no-deal Brexit.

The sources also reportedly said the Japanese carmaker's Brexit contingency plan has been in the works since late 2019 before Makoto Uchida was appointed as CEO in December 2019.

Nissan did not immediately respond to S&P Global Market Intelligence's request for comment.