Vauxhall Ellesmere Port to suspend production for a week

VAUXHALL is to halt production at its Ellesmere Port factory and its sister plant in Bedford as a reaction to a fall in demand for cars caused by the ongoing euro zone crisis.

The Cheshire factory, which was saved from possible closure earlier this year when parent company General Motors struck a deal with unions on employee flexibility , will down tools from September 24.

A spokesperson for the car manufacturer said: ““As a major exporter and following the downturn in mainland Europe, Vauxhall manufacturing operations in Ellesmere Port and in Luton are implementing a down week  24 September.

“This is to avoid building up stock by balancing inventory with customer orders,”

The issue of overcapacity is not just affecting production in this country. General Motors is halting manufacturing at Russelheim, one of its largest plants for 20 days, while Fiat having a two week break at its Naples plant and Renault is closing its plant in Douai for four days.