VAUXHALL is closing one of its biggest UK factories, putting 1,000 jobs at risk.
The move has been slammed by furious MPs who say the closure of the 120-year-old hub is set to “massively impact the whole town”.
The van-making factory struggled with the push for electric vehicles[/caption]
The Luton factory will close in April 2025.
The plans were first announced in November 2024 and the company blamed the UK’s switch to electric vehicles and the ZEV Mandate.
After the closure in Luton, the machinery will be transported to Ellesmere Port in Cheshire, where electric vans are already being produced.
Vauxhall owner Stellantis, the second-biggest maker of cars in Europe, has said it will invest £50million in Ellesmere.
The decision comes months after the multi-national firm, which also owns the likes of Citroen, Fiat, Jeep, Peugeot and Maserati, warned it may halt production in the UK.
The ZEV Mandate, which are the strict new rules that aim to limit the sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles in the UK ahead of a 2035 ban, have been critised by the car giant for its proposed penalties on car-manufacturing.
Luton Council has hit out against the decision, claiming they offered “numerous options to save the plant but they were rejected” by Stellantis.
Hazel Simmons, Labour leader of Luton Council, said: “Vauxhall has been an integral part of Luton’s heritage for decades.
“We did what we could to try and stop this closure going ahead and I feel angry that this decision will massively impact the lives of so many people.
“This is news the workers and their families would have been dreading to hear and we want them to know we are behind them and will support them all we can.
“It’s not just them who are affected. This will impact the whole town. With job losses at the plant as well as the wider supply chain, it will have a huge impact on the local economy, but we will recover from this.”
Business and trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “This news will be deeply concerning for the employees at Luton who will be affected and their families.
“We have a longstanding partnership with Stellantis and have engaged with them extensively throughout this process, including discussions over the past week and today.
“We will continue to work closely with them, the trade unions and Luton council to put in place measures to support the local community.”
In June last year, the company’s former UK boss, Maria Grazia Davino, said: “Stellantis UK does not stop, but Stellantis production in the UK could stop”.
Then, in an update in October, boss Carlos Tavares further urged ministers to relax the rules around EV production.
Tavares called on the government to “help to stimulate the demand” for EVs and cemented that the current threshold for green sales is approximately double the “natural” levels of demand.
Machinery will be transported to the Ellesmere factory in Cheshire[/caption]
