Previously, PSA Group CEO Carlos Tavarez stated that the Ellesmere Port plant must close the cost and quality gap between it and its European equivalents if it's to survive.
Speaking at the 2018 Geneva motor show, Tavares highlighted that the PSA Group's plants, including those that came as part of the Opel and Vauxhall acquisition, will all have an “equal and open” chance to demonstrate their competitiveness, but that there remains an issue of over-capacity that he needs to address.
Last year, 400 jobs were cut at Ellesmere Port, with company bosses saying the decision was taken due to 'market changes' rather than output or performance issues.
“Unfortunately, there was complacency for several decades, and now the gap between the UK and the Continental plants is significant,” he said. “But we see an opportunity in Brexit. While everything pauses to see what will happen with that, we will keep working. It gives us breathing space to improve competitiveness.”
Although Tavares hasn’t put a timeline on negotiations, he did highlight that other plants - and especially the workers’ unions at them - had already secured their futures by showing a flexibility to his needs to cut costs. “We need to reduce the total manufacturing costs significantly,” he said. “If you look at the plant in Zaragoza [in Spain], the unions demonstrated a high level of maturity in our negotiations and we agreed a deal to make the Corsa and electric Corsa there.
“Yes, the negotiations were difficult, but that is what it takes. When a company is complacent for decades it allows a gap to open. I'm not saying this to be difficult - it's the reality.”
Under the ownership of General Motors, Ellesmere Port was hailed as one of the highest-quality and efficient plants the firm operated. However, insiders say that benchmarking it against existing PSA plants has highlighted deficiencies.
The PSA Group is completed by the Citroën, DS and Peugeot brands.
“What I can promise is that everything will be benchmarked in an open and fair way,” said Tavares. "We will look at the best we have and measure against that, and find how to achieve that.”
Read more
Vauxhall axes 400 jobs at Ellesmere Port
PSA and Unite union in talks over future of UK factories
PSA Group plans to make Vauxhall and Opel profitable by 2020
Vauxhall Corsa EV to be launched in 2019
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Thekrankis
We all know how this goes right?
Goodbye Ellesmere Port.....
CWBROWN
Quality?
My Astra J CDTI tourer (built at that plant) has proven more durable than the nightmarish VAG diesels, Fiat diesels and BMW 2.0 TDs.
Look at the classified or ebay, Spanish built Corsa's from 08-14 are riddled with engine failures etc (and being sold spares-or-repair), whereas the Astra's are proving strong vehicles.
Wonder why Senor Carlos wants to protect the Spanish plant?
TheBritsAreComing
Let Vauxhall Go!
Why don't they just dump the Vauxhall brand and the UK factories and keep Opel?
Maybe then Vauxhall can have a good shot at a fresh start in the UK, rather than winding down domestic production so that the brand can't survive independently!
Somebody needs to wrangle Vauxhall back from PSA.
gussy51
MG Rover Group II
Ski Kid
I would expect Peugeot,and Citroen and Vauxhall to be obsolete
If they closed the Uk plant after Peugeot closing coventry that the sales of thes ecars would nosedivedue to bad publicity and lousy residuals.
WallMeerkat
Ski Kid wrote:
Would it though?
There are plenty of Peugeots on the roads.
When Ford stopped making cars in the UK people still bought them.
When Rover went to the wall people still kept buying BMWs.
Marc
Ski Kid wrote:
They all suffer that anyway, without sounding too much like Morrissey, so what difference would it make?
Scoobman
The end is nigh
Vauxhall makes competent cars that people wanted to buy 15 years ago. The world has moved on. That is why Ellsmere will surely close.
gagaga
Unfortunately, there was complacency for several decades
Exactly who is he trying to insult here? The Biritsh workers, the German management, or the American ex-owner?
Andy Volga
Vauxhall's factories will close - because they are British
PSA had no intention of maintaining any manufacturing presence in Britain. There is no instance of a French takeover resulting in anything other than closure of British factories - Dodge Trucks (where the same excuse being put forward for Ellesemere Port was used - not up to scratch blah blah), Ferguson Televisions, GEC Alstom, Peugeot-Talbot and so on and so on. This has nothing to do with the factory itself being weak or Brexit but everything to do with the French never missing a chance to stick one on the Brits.
Sadly, our own government also feels the same way - French steel being used for our new submarines for example. The workers at Luton and Ellesmere Port can expect nothing from the British government than crocodile tears and then abuse from the DWP if they have to claim social security to put food on the table.
Don't forget that it was only acouple of years ago that the French government tried to alter the voting structures of the Renault-Nissan Alliance to give it absolute control over Nissan with the express intention of closing down the Sunderland Nissan factory. Even the Guardian reported on that story so nefarious was it!
Waht we need bluntly is what China and Russia have and before them korea and Japan. If you want to sell here, then you make it here. It is working very well for China and now for Russia. They have factories and so on. We don't.
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