Talks continue over future of Vauxhall plant at Ellesmere Port
Talks with the government over the future of Vauxhall’s plant at Ellesmere Port in Cheshire are still ongoing, parent company Stellantis said today.
The company is reportedly considering building electric cars at the plant, but no agreement has yet been reached.
The head of Stellantis’ Opel and Vauxhall unit Michael Lohscheller told Bloomberg: “At this stage these discussions are productive but not conclusive.”
He added that the firm would need government support if it were to build electric vehicles at the factory.
The fate of the plant, where the carmaker builds its Astra model, has been in doubt due to the UK’s decision to leave the EU.
Although the firm had in the past indicated that it wished to build its new Astra at the factory, which employs 1,000 people, recent comments from boss Carlos Tavares had cast its prospects into doubt.
As a result of the Brexit deal, Tavares said that Stellantis would only be able to make its electric vehicle investment in either the UK or Europe.
“The biggest market is on the continental European side so if you look at it from a pure logistic perspective or from a paperwork perspective, perhaps it is better to put it in continental Europe”, Tavares said.
He added that investment decisions would be taken in light of “the UK government’s willingness to protect some kind of automotive industry in its own country, which is about their own strategy”.
In recent weeks, a number of car makers have committed their futures to the UK, surprising those who had predicted that Brexit would send the auto industry in this country into decline.
Nissan and Jaguar Land Rover both said they would keep their UK plants open for the foreseeable future as they shift their focus to electrifying their fleets.