New Astra = plant kept open + 700 New jobs at Liverpool
www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18098657
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"Owner General Motors will confirm this morning that a new Astra model will be built at the 2,100-worker plant."
New Astra!! The current one hasn't been around all that long.
I like the library picture in the article.
"Vauxhall. Ellesmere Port. Home of the Astra"
And the car in full view is a Signum (I was going to say Vectra, but checked the numberplate = sad)
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Nothing to do with the Euro's plight of course.
Nevertheless, a welcome boost for Britain, and for a change I suspect that the unions may deserve some credit for their part in making it happen.
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Only if they agree to new working practices!
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>> Only if they agree to new working practices!
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According to the report, they have, which went a long way towards the deal being secured.
I'm not normally the biggest fan of unions but if, as it seems, they've been realistic about this instead of falling for the old trap of putting bloody-minded tradition first, then well done them; although in fairness Ellesmere Port does seem to be one of the more productive plants nowadays anyway .
Be interesting to see how much the government bribe was though.
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 17 May 12 at 12:53
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>> >> Only if they agree to new working practices!
>> >>
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>> According to the report, they have, which went a long way towards the deal being
>> secured.
>>
I have just heard a union rep on the news complaining about the company bullying and threatening the workforce into an agreement. Obviously he did not feel strongly enough to resign from his job.
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>> Be interesting to see how much the government bribe was though.
Vince Cable was playing actualite games on that issue Today this morn. No payment made but GM would be eligible to apply for various regional fund assitance etc. I bet there's a figure pencilled in already.
The plan also involves shutting a plant in Germany. That won't be easy. The main reason why EP was thought likley to shut was neither bolshy unions nor poor productivity but UK labour laws that made closure easy.
What happens if German Unions kick up big time
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>> Nothing to do with the Euro's plight of course.
>>
>> Nevertheless, a welcome boost for Britain, and for a change I suspect that the unions
>> may deserve some credit for their part in making it happen.
The unit representative was on TV moaning about the deal, slagging off GM. I think the deal was brokered by the workers despite the union.
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Very good news, the last thing that whole area needed was Ellesmere to close.
Haven't been to the plant since latest model produced but excellent news that another model is going to made there, i wonder which version will be added and which country will lose it.
Previous model whilst not a bad car was a drab design unless blinged when it came out, ageing did it no favours.
They must be doing something right i see lots of the latest design about and the warranty isn't hurting sales, good looking car too, the estate being one of the neatest looking of all makes for many years, far easier on the eye than Insignia and other makes competition, though one mans meat etc.
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The current Astra J been on sale since late 2009. If GM keep to their 5/6 year product cycle, it will be the K generation that will be due in 2015.
Unusually some versions of the Astra I were kept in production until 2011 (eg the Sportshatch was produced until late 2011, when the GTC came out).
Will they do the same with the Astra K??
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It's the Astra 'J' they're building not the 'I' that this site incorrectly lists. Raised the point before but it hasn't been updated on the website database.
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>> It's the Astra 'J' they're building not the 'I'
The lastest Astra (2009 > current) can be referred to as both.
Personally I don't know why they didn't stick to calling them the Mk1, Mk2, etc.
The 1st Astra wasn't referred to as the Astra A, it was the Mk1 (ok, it was also known as the Opel Kadett D)
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>>(ok,
>> it was also known as the Opel Kadett D)
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Don't you mean it was also known as the Opel Kadett :- D)
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No, because there were also Opel Kadett C (Chevette), B, & A models.
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I'm very pleased for Ellesmere Port and all the other firms who supply it with parts.
Everytime I hear stories like this it reminds me of how we were told by the rabid pro-Euro mob that if we didn't join the single currency then firms would be investing in the Eurozone instead of the UK.
How times change!
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Good news for British industrial capability - and proper work as well. Who'd have thought, Airbus, Toyota, Jaguar Land Rover in a small area must be good for North West and N Wales.
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Living fairly near the plant I'm thrilled to bits it's staying open.
The car itself concerns me though - who is buying them? I don't know anyone who owns the current Astra (yet know lots of people who have bought previous versions) and when we needed to buy that size of car for daughter they just didn't have the right engine/trim combination. A special edition Golf available at the time (a year ago) was a no-brainer.
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I've just ordered a new Astra I. well built i thought. list prices a bit high but got a good discount
Last edited by: nyx2k on Thu 17 May 12 at 18:06
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>> Living fairly near the plant I'm thrilled to bits it's staying open.
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>> The car itself concerns me though - who is buying them? I don't know anyone
>> who owns the current Astra
Plenty knocking about down here, its a shapely styled good looking piece of kit.
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Seen loads around here, including the shapely GTC in various guises...
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See loads of Astra's and Insignias here, but the majority are ones on hire fleets. I use Europcar a lot and probably can count of 50%+ of hires being in VX's
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Vauxhall Astra I - Ellesmere to get new Astra +700jobs - VxFan
