Wheels come off NW auto sector
THE automotive sector has taken a real battering in 2008, with thousands of jobs lost and yet more under threat if the government doesn’t come up with cash to prop-up the industry.
According to the North West Automotive Alliance there are about 20,000 jobs in companies directly involved with car makers in this region and a similar number employed among related service providers. This region is second only to the Midlands as the country’s automotive hub.
There has been increasing pressure on the government to help the car industry – one of the region’s key sectors – with trade union Unite calling for a £13bn loan to the industry, and business secretary Peter Mandelson replying that he doesn’t have an “open cheque book”.
And he warned recentlythat the carmakers must “look to their own resources” and pass “some pretty tough tests” before receiving aid.
In particular, Jaguar Land Rover, which employs 15,000 people with 2,000 at its Halewood plant, has been the focus of speculation. It has warned that more staff will have to be made redundant in the New Year if it doesn’t get financial support.
This is despite Tata, the company’s Indian owner, saying it is prepared to invest “tens of millions” of pounds – something other carmakers in the region cannot reply on.
In mid-December, having already brought in several redundancy rounds and non-production weeks, Jaguar Land Rover announced its Halewood plant is cutting production to one shift a day, from mid-January.
A few days earlier, Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant had announced that it was to offer workers an eight-month break on 30% pay, with them returning in September when the plant starts building the new Astra.
And at the end of October, Bentley announced that it was seeking between 200 and 300 redundancies at its Crewe factory.
Carmaker production cuts are of course led by a downturn in sales. In mid-December Lookers, the Stretford-based car dealership group, said profits would be less than half of last year’s £24.5m.
On a more positive note the group said that thanks to the strong performance of its parts distribution business and after sales arm, it was “in a good position” to meet the challenging market place.
Truckmakers too have suffered, with Leyland Trucks announcing in mid-November that it is cutting a further 250 jobs and doubling its Christmas shutdown period to two weeks.
The news came just weeks after it axed around 100 jobs in response to a 40% drop in sales of heavy trucks across Europe. Some 1,300 people work at the factory which builds DAF trucks.
