Vauxhall proprietor threatens to finish UK manufacturing over EV gross sales targets
- Stellantis boss says it could decide to pull production from the UK this year
- Bosses are unhappy with ‘hostile’ Zero Emission Vehicle mandate rules
- It spent £100m only last year converting one UK car factory into an EV plant
The owner of Vauxhall has warned it could stop making vehicles in the UK amid a row over electric vehicle sales targets.
Stellantis – one of the world’s biggest car makers – has threatened to close its plants in Ellesmere Port in Cheshire and Luton over government quotas for zero-emission vehicles. The company employs 2,500 staff across the two sites.
In a dramatic escalation of tensions between the manufacturer and ministers, Stellantis UK boss Maria Grazia Davino put the Government on notice, saying the decision will be made in ‘less than a year’.
It comes after the huge automotive group splashed £100million converting Vauxhall’s 60-year-old car production factory into the nations first exclusive EV manufacturing site only last year.
Closure threat: Vauxhall-owner Stellantis – one of the world’s biggest car makers – has threatened to close its plants in Ellesmere Port in Cheshire (pictured) and Luton
Ellesmere Port in 2023 became the UK’s first volume-production EV manufacturing site following a huge £100m investment from parent group Stellantis. Now it says it might pull vehicle making entirely from the UK due to unreasonable ZEV mandate sales targets
She also said Stellantis, which also owns Citroen and Peugeot, could slash the number of petrol and diesel motors it sells in the UK to meet the targets.
Under the Government’s mandate, manufacturers must sell an increasing proportion of electric vehicles each year or face hefty fines.
The sale of new petrol and diesel motors will be banned from 2035.
The Labour party has pledged to introduce the ban in 2030 and is likely to face urgent talks with car makers should it win the election on July 4 as expected.
Speaking at a car industry conference in London, Davino said: ‘We have undertaken big investments in Ellesmere Port and in Luton, with more to come.
‘But if this market becomes hostile to us, we will enter an evaluation for producing elsewhere.’
Car production started at Ellesmere Port in 1964 with the Viva, followed by the Chevette and then the Astra hatchback and estate versions. More than 5.2m motors have been made there
The company makes electric vans and MPVs in Ellesmere Port and recently outlined plans to make the vehicles at its Luton plant from next year.
Previously it urged ministers to do more to boost consumer demand for zero-emission cars.
The concerns voiced by Stellantis were echoed in a warning from car dealership Vertu Motors that green targets could push up the price of second-hand petrol and diesel vehicles.
The company, which has 189 sales and aftersales sites, said the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate – which requires manufacturers to up its sales of EVs to 22 per cent in 2024 and a higher share every year until 2035 – ‘has the potential to create volatility in the new car market’.
It went on: ‘This may include reduced supply of new petrol and diesel cars in the coming periods and would lead to a strengthening of petrol and diesel used car values.’
Ford bosses have also recently said it could limit the number of petrol cars it makes available to UK customers in the coming years in a bid to increase its share of EV sales in order to hit the strict ZEV mandate thresholds.
Manufacturers that fail to comply with the targets face fines of £15,000 for every non-ZEV car and £18,000 per non-ZEV van.
The mandate does include an allowance for manufacturers to sell non-ZEVs up to a given percentage of their fleet of new cars and vans, with the intention that ZEVs account for the remaining sales.
Any excess non-ZEV sales can be covered by purchasing allowances from other manufacturers, using allowances from past or future trading periods during the initial years of the policy, or offsetting with credits.
Extra credits are offered for vehicles deployed with car clubs, or those that are wheelchair accessible.
In April, Carlos Tavares, chief executive at Stellantis, said the UK’s ZEV mandate could see Stellantis slash the number of cars it sells in Britain, even refusing to rule out halting sales of some models altogether.
But a source close to the company said the more likely option was that sales would be restricted or prices would rise to compensate.
Diane Miller, plant director at Ellesmere Port, said last year that the £100million investment turning Ellesmere Port into an EV production site ‘signals a bright future for the plant’
Referencing the job boost for Britain, Miller said the opening on the EV-only production site will ‘ensure Britain continues to manufacture vehicles for many years to come’. Pictured: a battery pack waiting to be installed in one of the green Vauxhall vans
The Ellesmere Port plant is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.
For over 40 of these years it manufactured Vauxhall’s popular Astra family car, but in 2023 it was converted into the country’s first EV-exclusive production site following a £100million investment from Stellantis.
The factory currently assembles the Vauxhall – and Opel for mainland Europe – Combo-e commercial vehicle as well as the Citroen e-Berlingo van and Peugeot e-Partner sister models.
It also makes the Vauxhall Combo Life Electric, Peugeot e-Rifter and Citroën e-Berlingo MPVs – three MPVs based on each brand’s vans.
Last year, it was hailed by the business secretary as a ‘visible demonstration that the Government has got the right plan for the UK’s automotive sector’.
The Ellesmere Port site produced its final Astra back in April 2022, having been the home of the family hatchback – and estate version – through all seven generations dating back to 1981.
This saw more than four million built in total across four decades.
The Ellesmere Port plant will also be the home of the Vauxhall Combo Life Electric, Peugeot e-Rifter and Citroën e-Berlingo MPVs – three MPVs based on the vans it is also making
The factory is also believed to have secured thousands of jobs across Britain in its automotive supply chain
Diane Miller, plant director at Ellesmere Port, last year hailed the start of production of EV models at the factory as a ‘signal of a bright future for the plant’ and referenced the job boost for Britain, adding that it ‘ensures it will continue to manufacture vehicles for many years to come’.
She added that Stellantis is ‘committed to working with the Government to ensure the UK automotive industry remains competitive for producing electric vehicles for the long-term’, as ministers set out to make Britain a more appealing location to manufacturers.
Kemi Badenoch, secretary of state for business and trade, said it was a ‘very visible demonstration that this Government has got the right plan for the UK’s automotive sector’.
She added: ‘Alongside recent investments from other major vehicle manufacturers, we are ensuring the UK remains at the forefront of automotive innovation as well as securing jobs in this critical industry and its wider supply chain.’
A brief history on the 60-year-old Vauxhall factory
Ellesmere Port was built in 1962 and produced its first car, the Vauxhall Viva, in 1964.
Since then, it has produced iconic models from the Vauxhall range including the Chevette and successive generations of the Vauxhall and Opel Astra.
Since 1985, more than 4.1million Astras have rolled off the production lines at Ellesmere Port and in excess of 5.2million cars across all models.
Production of the latest eighth-generation Astra now takes place at Opel’s Rüsselsheim site in German.
The first Vauxhall Astra – based on the Opel Kadett – pictured here being driven off the production line in Ellesmere Port in 1981
The second-generation Astra was built from 1984 to 1991. It used the same engines as the Mk1, but with a completely restyled body. It was voted 1985 European Car of the Year
Released in 1991, the Mk3 Astra was an evolution of the model before it, rather than a complete overhaul. It was in production until 1998
In 1998, Vauxhall introduced the Mk5 Astra, which won praise for its greatly improved ride and handling. It also scored excellently in Euro NCAP crash tests and become a British favourite. Production ceased in 2004
Boxier looks were incorporated into the design of the Mk6 Astra, which was built at Ellesmere Port from 2004 until 2010
Having watched the Ford Focus become a major sales success in Britain, Vauxhall knew it had to up its game with the sixth-gen Astra, built from 2009 to 2016. It was better to drive, more stylish than before and offered all the requirements needed in a family motor
The Mk7 Astra emerged in 2015. While it was an improvement on the car it succeeded, it hasn’t quite managed to replicate the same success of former models. This was the final one built at Ellesmere Port – a Sport Tourer estate 1.2-litre petrol Turbo SRi Nav manual in ‘Hot Red’ paint
Among the first electric vehicles to be produced at Ellesmere Port, the Vauxhall Combo Electric is powered by a 50kWh lithium-ion battery paired with a 100kW (136PS) electric motor.
It has a range of up to 175 miles, while a 0 to 80 per cent charge can be completed in just 30 mins from a 100kW rapid charger.
Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat are currently the only mainstream automotive brands to produce vans in Britain.
Alongside the Ellesmere Port plant, they all continue to make vans at the Stellantis factory in Luton, which has been operating since 1905.
Since 1981, more than 4 million Vauxhall Astras across all generations have been built at the UK site
The new eighth-generation Astra , which was unveiled last year and will cost from £24,315, is being built at Opel’s Rüsselsheim site in Germany
Speaking in 2022 about the end of Astra production in Britain, Paul Willcox, managing director at Vauxhall and senior vice-president for Stellantis, said: ‘Over the last 60 years, Ellesmere Port has become one of the great British car plants, producing some of the most popular cars on the roads across generations.
‘With one era closing, we’re now looking forward to an all-new electric era at Ellesmere, with the site becoming the first Stellantis plant to produce solely electric vehicles.
‘Vauxhall is fast moving towards an electric future and I’m pleased to see the next-generation of Vauxhall electric vehicles made in Britain.’
Vauxhall has committed to selling only electric vehicles from 2028, seven years ahead of the Government deadline, and says the transformation at Ellesmere Port will ‘ensure the UK remains at the forefront of electric vehicle manufacturing’.
