Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant will lose another 250 workers as the brand announced additional cuts atop previously announced redundancies. Last October, the brand said it would cut 400 workers in a voluntary redundancy effort. It will now expand that program to another 250 workers.
Sky News reported on the cuts on Monday which come as Vauxhall works to remain competitive in the United Kingdom. The brand said the initial redundancy program was successful, but it needs to take additional steps to “protect its future.” Vauxhall will implement the cuts between April and September 2018.
In addition to the cuts, the Ellesmere Port plant will move to a single shift in April. The plant exclusively builds the Astra and Astra wagon, which fell to the UK’s sixth best-selling car in 2017. Production hovered around 50,000 cars, down from 60,000 cars in 2016.
The Ellesmere Port’s future rests in the hands of Vauxhall’s new owner, France’s PSA Groupe. The automaker acquired Vauxhall and Opel last year from General Motors. The plant is reportedly safe until at least 2021 from closure, but it could be an important resource during the UK’s Brexit split with the European Union.
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Not entirely unexpected. I think it reflects the likely conditions in the UK market this year which at best will show no growth and at worst a further contraction vs 2017. It is also a reflection of the shift in demand across Europe away from conventional hatch models to SUV' / MPV style vehicles. Interesting that just hours after this was announced PSA are supposed to be looking for 1,300 job cuts in France under Macron's new labour laws. I think we will probably see similar moves from Renault, Fiat and maybe even VW in the coming months.
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Agree, not unexpected at all - albeit as someone who has themselves been made redundant twice in the past 10 years, I can and do empathise for those who'll lose their jobs. On a positive note however, hopefully by reducing head count and cost base, Ellesmere Port will be better positioned for a better future once manufacturing switches on to a Groupe PSA platform.
"The plant exclusively builds the Astra and Astra wagon," -- ist wrong.
Right is "The plant exclusively builds the Astra wagon".
There is another Astra variant which is also produced in Ellsmere Port, but -- as far as I know -- not exclusively; everything other Astra is built in Gliwice, Poland.
Yup, quite correct:
Vauxhall Ellesmere Port: Opel / Holden / Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer and Opel / Vauxhall Astra 5-dr Hatch
Opel Gilwice: Opel / Holden / Vauxhall Astra 5-dr Hatch and Opel / Vauxhall (Astra) GTC