Car industry Vauxhall closes van plant - 1100 jobs at risk

Opel's British sister company Vauxhall is closing its van plant in Luton near London. The move threatens 1100 jobs.

The parent company Stellantis announced that in return hundreds of jobs would be created at the plant in Ellesmere Port and employees would be offered relocation packages.

The reason given was to consolidate the British production of light commercial vehicles. A hub for all-electric, sustainable vehicles is to be created in Ellesmere Port near Liverpool. A budget of 50 million pounds has been earmarked for this.

Vans with petrol and diesel engines will be built in Luton. Production of a medium-sized electric van should begin in 2025.

The company blamed British regulations for the move, which are intended to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles. Manufacturers must sell a certain percentage of zero-emission cars and vans - this year it is 10 percent for van sales. Failure to do so could result in heavy fines.

Car manufacturers are increasingly critical of this and are calling for more incentives from the government to boost demand. It is expected that, under pressure from the industry, Business Minister Jonathan Reynolds will soon relax the regulations.

In addition to Vauxhall and Opel, Stellantis also includes the Citroën, Peugeot and Fiat brands.

The German car industry also recently announced tough measures. For Volkswagen, in addition to cutting tens of thousands of jobs, the closure of several plants is now also an option on the road to economic stability.

SDA