BUSINESS Secretary Vince Cable is confident production will continue at Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant.
Speaking in Parliament, Chester’s MP Stephen Mosley called on Mr Cable to champion the plant after about 150 redundancies were announced and General Motors is to consider whether to close the plant.
A decision on its future is expected to be made by the end of April.
Answering questions in the House of Commons about the state of the UK motor industry, Mr Cable said: “I understand that production in the automotive industry has increased by 20% over the past year, and a lot of that is due to inward investors.
“I am, of course, well aware of the problems surrounding General Motors.
“Within the Government, I am working very closely with the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, my colleague the Member for Hertford and Stortford [Mark Prisk].
“I was in the United States two weeks ago talking to the chairman and chief executive [of General Motors] about that.
“I have to say that the Government, the trade unions and the British management have put forward an extremely powerful case not just for staying in the UK but for expanding.”
Picking up on those comments, Mr Mosley asked: “In his discussions with General Motors, will he remind the company that Ellesmere Port is one of its most productive plants in Europe and ideally placed to build its next-generation cars, such as the all-electric Ampera?”
Mr Cable replied: “We are talking about a very productive plant, which reflects well on the management, and also on the labour force, who have been consistently co-operative.
“Currently the plant does not operate at full capacity; the issue for the company is how to use that production in a way that minimises excess capacity.
“We are confident that the UK has a strong case in ensuring that existing production – but also new models, as he said – is secured in Ellesmere Port.”
