A restructuring of General Motors European Operations has enabled the plant to avoid being shut down, providing relief for over 2,000 employees at Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port assembly plant.
According to BBC News, the plant was slated for closure before restructuring took place. Luckily, an agreement to build the next-generation Vauxhall Astra at the plant was reached, guaranteeing the plant’s existence through 2020.
Duncan Aldred, outgoing managing director and chairman of Vauxhall Motors, echoed these thoughts to reporters, saying the plant was very close to being shut down. Without a deal for the next Astra, the plant would have most certainly been shuttered.
The next-gen Astra would be a next-generation model, buying the plant protection for the next six years. Having already confirmed that Opel’s Bochum Plant will cease production by 2016, the Ellesmere Port plant reprieve is music to employees’ ears. Aldred, who will move to work at General Motors’ headquarters in Detroit, believes UK car sales could potentially rise by up to 5 percent — a huge leap from the 1 percent projected by the SMMT.
Although far from being crystal clear, GM has demisted the clouded future of the Ellesmere Port facility for the time being. Stay in touch for further updates on the life of the plant and what the next-generation Astra has in store.
Comments
This is not news!! It was announced nearly a year ago that Ellesmere Port would be the lead plant for the next generation Astra and it was this decision was the reason for the closure of Bocham. Vauxhall’s future is under no threat at all and is in fact GM Europe’s best performing operation – BY A LONG WAY!
As David1256 says, this is all old news.
Since the market melt-down in 2008, the only threat to the UK Vauxhall plants, has been the size of Frau Merkel’s cheque-book!
Both Ellesmere Port and Luton are amongst GM’s most efficient plants globally, and can hold their own with any manufacturer in Europe. The circa 2,000 Ellesmere Port employees actually built 281,130 Astras in 2013. In comparison the 3,200 employees in Bochum (Germany) managed 108,000 units in total during the same period. Read into that what you will with regards to the renowned German efficiency!
The UK is GM’s fourth largest market with Vauxhall commanding a c. 11% share and 281,000 sales during 2013. In contrast, Opel in Germany achieved c.6% with 217,000 sales.
I’d say that it’s a pretty fair bet that if Vauxhall were financially accounted for separately within GM Europe, it would post a strong profit annually.
From my perspective, within the GM global empire, Vauxhall is not accorded the recognition it rightly deserves.
If this isn’t “news”, then what do you make of Aldred’s comments regarding the plant? From what we’ve heard, the decision to continue making the Astra at Ellesmere came down to the wire. I wouldn’t discount the importance of this development.
He was referring to what he said had happened a year ago – as I said this was not news it was history
Apologies … a small correction to my last post.
Total Vauxhall UK sales for 2013 were in fact 289,000 units.
Would be nice to see additional models being built here, ether at Luton or Ellsmere Port.
When you consider the yawning gap in efficiency between the Opel/Vauxhall manufacturing plants in Bochum and Ellesmere port not to mention respective home market share (mindful of GMs philosophy of build where you sell), it’s hard to understand why the Vauxhall workforce had to consent to such large flexibility changes and a pay freeze covering five out of six years between 2009 to 2016 just to win further production within the U.K, especially considering the intransigent and militant labour relations between G.M and Opel Germany. If anyone knows the reasons why Vauxhall appears to be viewed with such poor regard within G.M please tell.
Vauxhall and the United Kingdom … power-house of GM Europe!
Probably explains why Vauxhall VXR’s out-number Opel OPC’s in units sold p/a!
Maybe one day we might see the return of the Belmont as a sporty saloon to compete with Audis A3 saloon.
The Astra / Verano sedan is certainly a good-looking vehicle. High spec small sedans seem to work for Audi and Mercedes in the UK. Could well be that Vauxhall’s missing an opportunity there!
I note that in South Africa, after a 20 year absence, the Astra J sedan has just launched to much acclaim. Back in the early 90’s the Astra/Belmont C (aka Kadett/Monza) was one of the country’s top sellers in sedan format.
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