Vauxhall owner General Motors is set to announce that it has saved the Ellesmere Port Vauxhall factory after negotiating a new deal which will see the next-generation Astra being built at the Cheshire plant.
This comes after Vauxhall staff voted 94% in favour of a new deal regarding pay and conditions, clearing the way for new investment in the factory.
The move has secured the future for Ellesmere Port's 2,100 employees and will also create hundreds more jobs.
This is good news for GM's beleaguered European subsidiary Opel -- of which Vauxhall is a part -- as the automotive giant is haemorrhaging money, losing $750m last year alone. However, the UK car industry has been growing since 2008, with over 1.35 million cars leaving British factories in 2011.
Production of the new Astra will be split between Ellesmere Port and a factory in Gliwice, Poland. It is rumoured that GM is planning to close its Opel factory in Bochum, Germany as a consequence.
The Ellesmere Port factory celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this year and employees 2,100 workers along with 700 suppliers. The factory manufactures the current Astra hatchback and the Astravan, and is the sole manufacturer of the Astra Sports Tourer.
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