D-Day for 2,100 workers at Vauxhall car plant in Ellesmere Port

Feb 15 2012 by Laurie Stocks-Moore, Ellesmere Port Pioneer

WORKERS at Ellesmere Port’s Vauxhall plant are bracing themselves for bad news tomorrow (Thursday).

Rumours the plant will be shut by bosses at General Motors in the US spread last week and the firm has admitted ‘everything is on the table’.

With fourth-quarter losses of £190m expected to be announced this week, it is thought an action plan to turn fortunes around will be made public shortly afterwards.

Officially, GM Europe itself remains upbeat – but sources close to the company were quoted as saying it is suffering from ‘overcapacity’, with a slowdown in European car sales.

While accepting ‘everything is on the table’, including job losses or plant closures, Vauxhall’s spokeswoman in the UK said reports the Ellesmere Port plant, which employs  2,100 people, and a plant at Bochum in Germany will shut are ‘speculation’.

She said: “Our Ellesmere Port plant is one of the most productive and most efficient in Europe.

“It is running at record line rates of 47 units per hour since July 2011. About 93% of the plant’s production is dedicated to the Astra Sports Tourer, which is first in its segment in the UK and in high demand across Europe and Germany.”

Karl-Friedrich Stracke, the chief executive of Opel and Vauxhall, is understood to have written to employees to say cuts need to be made by the company and they will be informed of the measures after the annual results are published.

Last week the Wall Street Journal quoted unnamed General Motors executives in Detroit as saying: “GM is considering closing assembly plants in Bochum, Germany, where it employs about 3,100 workers and Ellesmere Port, England, where it has about 2,100 workers.

“There is increasing frustration with Opel and a feeling that the cuts two years ago did not go  nearly deep enough. If Opel is going to get fixed, it is going to get fixed now and the cuts are going to be deep.”

The American car maker had pledged not to close any plants in Europe before the end of 2014.

Opel/Vauxhall released a statement which said: “Management, the Works Council and the Supervisory Board of Opel/Vauxhall are all in agreement that Opel/Vauxhall has to become profitable, even in times of tough economic head winds. We are jointly discussing our strategy and will keep our employees and the public informed.

“Opel/Vauxhall is on a good path and, thanks to our excellent model range with six new product launches in 2012, we are sure that we will build on our success in the marketplace.”

Andrew Miller, MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston, said: “Any suggestion that Ellesmere Port will close remains pure speculation.

“Given the strong partnership between the company and its workforce, which has resulted in the factory becoming one of the most productive in Europe; I am convinced that, given the right support from the Government and all other agencies, the factory has a long-term future.”

General Motors will announce its fourth quarter 2011 financial results tomorrow at 12.30pm.