GM to cut 350 jobs at Vauxhall's Luton plant

Vauxhall’s Luton plant is to cut 354 staff under the massive restructuring of parent GM’s European operations, the company said today.

Consultation is now starting with employees and trade unions at the 1,500-employee Luton factory which makes the Vivaro van in a joint venture with France’s Renault.

Last week, Vauxhall workers at Ellesmere Port breathed easy for the first time since the Spring as the car plant escaped job cuts and saw its shift pattern increased from two to three.

Overall, Vauxhall employs 4,700 people in the UK, some 10 per cent of the European workforce. Elsewhere around the continent Vauxhall/Opel staff are still waiting to find out where the company’s plan to slice out 20 per cent of capacity will bite. In Germany, where Opel employs more than 24,000 people, three factory closures are thought to have been avoided. But the company’s Antwerp plant in Belgium is still not safe.