A decision over continued commercial vehicle production after 2013 at Vauxhall’s Luton plant will be made within the next six weeks.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Although General Motors and Renault have renewed their deal to jointly develop and build light commercial vans, there is no guarantee that they will continue to be built at the Luton plant north of London. Vauxhall closed the adjacent car factory some years ago to concentrate production at Ellesmere Port near Liverpool.
GM’s European chief Nick Reilly, a former Vauxhall chairman, admitted he was “confident” that Luton would continue to make the Vauxhall Vivaro and Renault Trafic but this was not a certainty.
However, he added that, if Luton was to lose the business, he was looking at other ways to utilise the plant although he did not expand further.
As GM Europe continues to tighten its belt to cut costs, it has already announced the closure of its Antwerp plant in Belgium. It has been seeking a buyer interested in continuing car production and the deadline for offers closed yesterday (30 September).
Reilly said: “We have had a number of interested parties and we have come down to two who are interested in making cars at Antwerp.” He said he hoped these negotiations would be complete by the end of the year but declined to comment on speculation that these are Chinese carmakers.
If the negotiations do not work out, Reilly said he was hopeful that the plant could be put to some other industrial use.
He added that GM Europe’s plans to cut costs by 20% were nearly complete following tough negotiations with unions in Germany, Spain and the UK. “We have asked a lot of our workforce in terms of job losses and reductions in bonuses, but we have got there.
“I think we have a chance to be profitable next year, 12 months ahead of schedule and in a market that is still pretty week – around 3m fewer car sales in Europe than the 17m in 2007.”
Reilly also gave more details on recently announced new Vauxhall/Opel small city car. “We already have the Agila which is popular with young families but we think there is room for something else in the segment, an aspirational small car.
“Status is no longer about size, particularly with cars. But the important things is that it has to look good and have the latest technologies and infotainment.”
He said that the new model would be sold at a premium price but would not necessarily go head to head with the Mini.
It will be three-door only and built at Opel’s Eisenach factory in Germany, borrowing component sets from other vehicle platforms.
Reilly added: “Eisenach is currently under-utilised with only one model and will require very little extra investment.”
The factory will initially build 80-90,000 of the new small car annually for Europe although the company is looking at other markets for the future.
