Stellantis is to close its Vauxhall van plant in southern England, with more than 1,000 jobs at risk, the company says.
Stellantis joins rival carmakers in cutting staff, closing sites and reducing production in a tough trading environment, Kallanish notes.
The company, which also owns the Peugeot, Citroen, Chrysler and Fiat brands, said on Tuesday it was consolidating its British light commercial vehicle production at its Ellesmere Port site in northern England, where it will invest £50 million ($63m) in a hub for electric vehicles (EVs).
The Milan Stock Exchange-listed company said it planned to move “hundreds of jobs” from Luton, just south of London, to Ellesmere Port and had begun consultations with staff and unions.
The company, created by the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA in 2021, did not say how many jobs would be affected.
Volkswagen, Ford, Nissan and GM have previously announced job cuts in response to declining demand for electric vehicles, which consumers see as too expensive, and increased competition from China.
VW announced on Wednesday that it will sell its plant in Urumqi, the capital of China’s Xinjiang autonomous region, bowing to pressure from investors concerned about possible human rights abuses in the region.
The local plant of the German automaker was created jointly with the Chinese state-owned automobile firm SAIC Motor Corp. and will be sold to a division of state-owned company Shanghai Lingang Economic Development.
However, the manufacturer from Germany indicated that it will extend its partnership with SAIC by a decade – until 2040, VW tells Kallanish. “By extending the agreement, the partners are creating early planning security beyond 2030 in a very dynamic development phase of the Chinese automotive market. At the same time, Volkswagen and SAIC are accelerating the transformation of their joint venture company, SAIC VOLKSWAGEN, in the areas of product portfolio, production, and decarbonization. The shared goal of the partners is to achieve a leading market position for SAIC VOLKSWAGEN with the Volkswagen Passenger Cars and Audi brands in the era of intelligent, fully connected electric vehicles,” it noted.
The Urumqi facility, which employs 175 workers, does not manufacture any cars, but performs final quality checks on already assembled vehicles, which are then shipped to car dealers in the region.
The company cited “economic reasons” behind the sale as it intends to gradually reduce production capacity for internal combustion vehicles amid increased demand for electric cars.
Volkswagen is particularly struggling in China, where local car brands such as BYD now dominate. By 2030 SAIC-Volkswagen will launch a total of 18 new models, including eight new electric vehicles.
Svetoslav Abrossimov Bulgaria
