General Motors’ announcement on Tuesday that its Polish plant will build the next Astra for export does not affect the British Astra plant at Ellesmere Port on Merseyside, Vauxhall spokesman David Crundwell told just-auto.
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Crundwell said the plant was currently gearing up to build the redesigned Astra and production was expected to begin next year.
“The Polish announcement has no effect” on British Astra production plans, he said.
In recent months, speculation has surrounded the future of the GM-Fiat Powertrain engine plant on the Ellesmere Port site, adjacent to the car plant, which builds the Ecotec V6 engine used in a variety of Vauxhall, Opel and Cadillac models.
GM is ramping up to build an all-new V6 engine family to replace both an ageing US-designed line and the Ecotec family and has recently announced that these will be made at Holden Engine Company, in Melbourne, Australia, and at a GM plant in New York state in the US.
Crundwell confirmed that Vauxhall had last month told unions that there were no engine orders for the plant beyond the end of 2005.
