Luton Vauxhall plant will close in April

[Chippy_Tea]

The owner of Vauxhall has told staff it will close its van-making factory in Luton in April.
Stellantis announced it would shut the site, which has been making vehicles since 1905, in November as it planned to move its electric van production to its other UK plant in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.
After work ceases in Luton, machinery will be transferred to Ellesmere Port and production on Vauxhall's medium all-electric vans will commence in 2026.
The Labour leader of Luton Council, Hazel Simmons, described it as a "devastating blow to Luton and the livelihood of the workers".
She 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."

Stellantis, which also owns Citroen, Peugeot and Fiat, previously said rules imposed to speed up the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) in the UK had partly driven its decision.
Current rules state that EVs must make up 22% of a manufacturer's car sales this year, and 10% of van sales.
In December the government called for the car firm to review its plans to close the factory.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds wrote to the company asking for it "pause" redundancies to enable more time for discussions "about options to keep the plant open".
Responding to reports the site would close in April he said: "This news will be deeply concerning for the employees at Luton who will be affected and their families.
"We will continue to work closely with [Stellantis], the trade unions and Luton Council to put in place measures to support the local community."

Stellantis said it would invest £50m in the Ellesmere Port plant as it became the firm's UK commercial vehicle hub.
It said employees affected by job losses would receive support including financial aid, retraining and wellness sessions.
In a statement, it said: "The required consultation period with Unite the Union, which has been detailed and constructive, has now finished and we are engaging with all interested parties to ensure that the employees have the best possible advice for their future.
"These employees are our priority and we will continue to act responsibly towards those in Luton."

BBC News

 

[Clint]

It said employees affected by job losses would receive support including financial aid, retraining and wellness sessions.

Wellness sessions...warraloadashite.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Current rules state that EVs must make up 22% of a manufacturer's car sales this year, and 10% of van sales.

This rush to have us move to BEV is now costing jobs its crazy.

 

[Rodcx500z]

There will be no help from this Government, they are only interested in making voice coaches key workers and cancelling local elections because they are terrified of reform

 

[Rodcx500z]

Every time i see Raynor speaking in the house i get a pic in my head, of an Asda chav in her Pj's

 

[Laner]

Every time i see Raynor speaking in the house i get a pic in my head, of an Asda chav in her Pj's

Bet she can suck a golf ball down a garden house

 

[Rodcx500z]

Good owd northern humour

 

[aolcot]

Current rules state that EVs must make up 22% of a manufacturer's car sales this year, and 10% of van sales.

These rules are a joke - How do you enforce such rules that rely on the public choosing.. Like telling walkers they must sell 30% smokey bacon crisps!

 

[Stu]

I used to live a couple of towns over. It's been a long, slow death.
Could easily have happened 20 years ago. Once Vauxhall was consumed into Stellantis, it was inevitable. It's not just EVs, they stopped building other vans and moved them up north.

I'm actually shocked they lasted this long.

 

[aolcot]

I'm actually shocked they lasted this long.

Yup, I live just up the road and 100% agree.. I think only kept running the plant due to political, public, union, media etc pressure over the years, but there comes a tipping point and they can now helpfully hide behind this "rule" excuse and shutter the plant for good.

 

[Laner]

Failing business long before the ‘idiotic’ rules on % EV sales.

Surprising, but good to see, public money isn’t being wasted to stave off the inevitable.. put the money into supporting those who will lose their jobs.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Failing business long before the ‘idiotic’ rules on % EV sales

I may be wrong but I cannot see there being much demand for electric vans other than for those companies that deliver locally, can you imagine white van man at the services waiting patiently for a charger or while it's charging half way through a shift.

 

[aolcot]

I may be wrong but I cannot see there being much demand for electric vans other than for those companies that deliver locally, can you imagine white van man at the services waiting patiently for a charger or while it's charging half way through a shift.

Exactly - But you do have to believe that at some point in the next decade there will be an actual game changer in battery tech (or engine tech) that is viable commercially, solves current EV negatives, isn't fantasy or just made up youtube ***** and then the shift will happen. Be that L-ion, L-sulphur, graphene, air, pig manure or whatever you believe in the media. Obvs be far too late for Luton - which tbf seems to have been clinging on by its nails for a very long time anyway. Its very sad for everyone there and hope the company does it utmost to support the communities, but it isn't entirely out of the blue

 

[hoppyscotty]

These rules are a joke - How do you enforce such rules that rely on the public choosing.. Like telling walkers they must sell 30% smokey bacon crisps!

That's easy...you take choice away. soon they'll just tell you what car you can drive...if they decide that you are allowed to have a car at all.

I'm jumping off my company car scheme this year because the choice of cars available interests me about as much as the history of Doyle's and they're getting unaffordable due to EV taxes being introduced, and new ICE cars are getting so unaffordable expensive now its not an option, so back to bangernomics for me.

Its worse than that as for every ICE car that manufacturers sell over the limit they have to pay a fine, so if the market decides they will reject EV's and buy ICE and the car manufacturers sell more ICE cars then they pay millions, if not billions a year in fines, so they will avoid that by simply not selling them leaving consumers with nowhere to go...don't want/can't afford/can't use an EV? (believe it or not they are not suitable for everyone... and some people just don't want them - fancy that, exercising free choice. That will soon be a thing of the past) then the alternative will just be unaffordable or not even available, so tough luck! Price of used ICE cars is already on the up.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Exactly - But you do have to believe that at some point in the next decade there will be an actual game changer in battery tech (

I have no doubt that will happen, range has increased fourfold over the years once they get charge time down to near the equivalent of filling a fuel tank there will be little reason for any of us not to move to BEV.

 

[Stu]

I may be wrong but I cannot see there being much demand for electric vans other than for those companies that deliver locally, can you imagine white van man at the services waiting patiently for a charger or while it's charging half way through a shift.

For all those that hate EVs, local delivery drivers are absolutely ideal for going EV. The Post Office are massively investing in them, even in rural areas like I live in. They simply have banks of chargers.

Small vans (like Vivaros and smaller) have a range of around 250 miles. In real terms, these vans often don't do 100 miles a day, particularly in urban areas.

I remember speaking to someone who lived in Oxford who said that his DPD van rarely does more than 70 miles a day.
Over 1/3 of DPD vans are now fully EV.

Think about your local builder (let's call him Bob). Bob uses his van to get from one side of the city to the other - around 15 miles. Sometimes, he takes his van to the local merchants to pick up extra bits - say 5 miles. Then he goes home - 15 miles.
As it turns out, he picks up Bill which adds another 20 miles to his day.

He's doing 55 miles a day. I don't think an EV is an issue for him.

Or indeed a plumber (let's call him Peter). Peter does 6 jobs a day. Because he doesn't want to spend all day in his van, he cleverly makes sure he minimizes his travel time, so he does 5 miles between each job. Add on his 5 mile commute from the other side of town, and he's done 40 miles.

Hence why there are so many 20 year old vans on the road with relatively low mileage.

 

[Clint]

And the British Gas man who came to us before Christmas was later than expected because he couldn't charge his van at home as he has no drive so had to drive across town to a hotel car park to charge it for an hour then drive it without the heater on...

 

[old dog new tricks]

You fail to mention than the increased weight and hard acceleration ( white van man is the fastest in the world remember) will have massive impact on range.

Police Scotland are now going electric, given the huge geographical areas covered many have raised genuine concerns plus the massive draw of charging a fleet at end of shifts is scary, plus the EVs will not be able to be handed over to next shift until recharged

 

[Stu]

And the British Gas man who came to us before Christmas was later than expected because he couldn't charge his van at home as he has no drive so had to drive across town to a hotel car park to charge it for an hour then drive it without the heater on...

But that's a British Gas problem. As an aside above, I pointed out that DPD and Post Office are now getting heavily into them.
Places where you're expected to drop your van off at night.

I'm hardly going to pretend they're for everyone. But 10% isn't outrageous.

You fail to mention than the increased weight and hard acceleration ( white van man is the fastest in the world remember) will have massive impact on range.

Police Scotland are now going electric, given the huge geographical areas covered many have raised genuine concerns plus the massive draw of charging a fleet at end of shifts is scary, plus the EVs will not be able to be handed over to next shift until recharged

Again, I'm not saying they're for everyone. Absolutely no reason why the Met Police couldn't though.

The range as above for most of them is around 200-250 when in reality they're going to do half that.
And to be fair, managing their range by not driving like d1ckheads isn't a bad thing is it?

 

[old dog new tricks]

But that's a British Gas problem. As an aside above, I pointed out that DPD and Post Office are now getting heavily into them.
Places where you're expected to drop your van off at night.

I'm hardly going to pretend they're for everyone. But 10% isn't outrageous.



Again, I'm not saying they're for everyone. Absolutely no reason why the Met Police couldn't though.

The range as above for most of them is around 200-250 when in reality they're going to do half that.
And to be fair, managing their range by not driving like d1ckheads isn't a bad thing is it?

Good luck getting driver who are paid by the second not drive like they stole it haha.

Agree needs to be applied where feasible, not the scatter gun approach currently being used

Can see the local hoodlums having fun leading the police on merry jaunts to run their batteries down !

Post Office no brainer perfect application, local delivery stuff yes agree even if the idea of even quicker van drivers scares the life out of me lol City centre buses have shown it can work so not saying it can't just need to be realistic