Union chiefs reportedly have met with the UK government’s chancellor of the exchequer (finance minister) Gordon Brown to discuss the future of GM Europe’s Vauxhall Astra plant at Ellesmere Port on Merseyside, near Liverpool.
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The Daily Telegraph newspaper noted that unions are still shocked by Peugeot’s plans to shut its Ryton plant, near Coventry, the third major closure in the English Midlands in three years after MG Rover collapsed in 2005 year and Jaguar stopped making cars at Browns Lane in 2004.
The paper said it had learned that the general secretary of the Transport & General Workers’ Union, Tony Woodley, this week met Brown in London to discuss Ellesmere Port.
The Telegraph understands that the union is keen to ensure that the government can offer more public money so that Vauxhall builds the next generation Astra there.
Speaking at JD Power’s ‘Global Automotive Outlook conference in Paris last week, analyst Arthur Maher said that 1m units of annual car producing capacity in western Europe will be removed over the period due to the rapid installation of production capacity in eastern Europe. Five car plants in Western Europe – including Ellesmere Port – are facing closure over the next three to four years, he said.
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By GlobalDataThe Daily Telegraph said GM is due to make a decision in the middle of next year.
It noted that the Astra is built at four factories, including Ellesmere Port and Bochum in Germany and that there were reports in late March that GM might close a plant in Europe when it launches the next Astra.
Hans Demant, head of Opel, was quoted as saying the replacement for the Astra might need fewer facilities, possibly leading to the closure of one of the sites. GM dismissed the reports as “highly speculative” at the time, the newspaper added.
Industry sources have told the Daily Telegraph that the T&G union was not expecting anything “catastrophic” at Ellesmere Port. One reportedly said: “You have to look seriously at everything, at other car plants in the country and to help ensure their future.”
The paper added that, last year, Ellesmere Port turned out a record 188,000 cars and is gearing up to produce Astra vans from next month.
A Vauxhall spokesman reportedly said the company was still working on new designs of the current Astra, which is only 18 months old.
Latest to arrive in the UK is the coupe-cabriolet though that version is not built here.
