Compulsory job losses ruled out at Vauxhall

The owner of car giant Vauxhall has announced plans to modernise plants and reduce the number of platforms for its vehicles, without making compulsory redundancies.

Psa-owned Opel/vauxhall said it wanted to return to profitability by 2020, with a lower financial break-even point of 800,000 vehicles.

Plants will remain open, including Luton and Ellesmere Port, with the French owners planning to make them more efficient.

Opel Automobile’s chief executive, Michael Lohscheller, said all passenger car lines will be electrified by 2024, while new light commercial vehicles will be launched in the coming years.

He said: “This plan is paramount for the company, to protect our employees against headwinds and turn Opel/vauxhall into a sustainable, profitable, electrified and global company.”

A company statement said the new plan was designed to maintain all plants and “refrain from forced redundancies” in Europe.