Monday, March 29, 2010
Business Minister visits Vauxhall car plant at Ellesmere Port
The Business Minister Ian Lucas saw first hand today the efficiency of Vauxhall's Ellesmere Port plant as he toured the production line which makes the Astra.
The site in the North West is currently the only plant in Europe to be making the latest version of the Astra model which began production last September.
With government support for its production and General Motors' funding of £1.7 billion for the restructuring of the company, which includes the Vauxhall plants at Ellesmere Port and Luton, it demonstrates the commitment of the Government and global car manufacturers to the UK car sector.
Business Minister Ian Lucas said:
"Ellesmere Port is a world-class manufacturing facility providing employment for more than 2,000 people in the North West. This has been achieved by making itself one of the most competitive and productive plants.
"Investment from companies such as Vauxhall is a vote of confidence in the UK and British manufacturing skills."
He added:
"There has been good news for car manufacturing recently, and the Government is doing all it can to help the industry transition to meet future demand for low carbon vehicles."
In our Ultra Low Carbon Vehicles strategy the Government set the target of making the UK one of the best places in the world to research, design or build low carbon vehicles. A cross-Government team, the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) was set up to deliver this.
Through consumer incentives and infrastructure funding schemes such as the Plug-In Car Grant and Plugged in Places, the Government is working towards the renewal of the UK car industry by a move to low carbon vehicles.
In last week's Budget, for example, the Government said that company car tax is to be halved for ultra-low carbon cars and zero company car tax for zero carbon cars for five years.
Manufacturers have also responded to this challenge strongly with recent announcements from Ford, on research and development projects worth £1.5 billion, and Nissan's plans to build its electric vehicle in the UK.
These investments have been backed by the Government with support for Vauxhall, Nissan and Ford of over £650 million in grants and loan guarantees.
DATED: 29.03.10
FEED: GG
Volvo sale deal signed by Geely
The Chinese car maker Geely has signed a deal to buy Volvo from US car giant Ford for $1.8bn (£1.2bn).
The agreement, which was first announced in December, is the biggest overseas purchase by a Chinese car manufacturer.
"Today represents a milestone for Geely," the company's chairman Li Shufu said.
Loss-making Volvo has been on the market since 2008, when Ford put it and several other brands up for sale.
Jaguar and Land Rover in the UK have already been sold to India's Tata Motors.
Ford hopes that the sale of Volvo will help it pay off its debts and focus on its core brands, following a dire period for the global car industry.
The deal represents a loss for Ford, however, having bought Volvo in 1999 for $6.5bn.
Geely, China's biggest independent car maker, has pledged to keep Volvo as a separate company with its headquarters remaining in Sweden.
However, significant manufacturing is expected to take place in China, making Volvos for Chinese consumers.
Analysts view the deal as a good one for Volvo, which has struggled to grow sales and has not made a profit since 2005.
That is in contrast to the Chinese market it will now have access to, which overtook the US last year as the world's biggest car market.
More than 13 million cars were sold in China last year - a rise of nearly 50% on the previous year.
Geely says it expects annual sales in China to total 400,000 this year.
DATED: 29.03.10
FEED: GG
