The PSA Ellesmere Port site could reduce its capacity by half
- The Opel Astra is currently produced at two production sites: Ellesmere Port (UK) and Gliwice (Poland).
- The PSA group could consider reducing production capacity at its Ellesmere Port site in the United Kingdom, pending the implementation of Brexit. The Ellesmere Port plant is one of two British plants of the French manufacturer acquired with the Opel and Vauxhall brands in 2017, along with the Luton plant dedicated to commercial vehicles.
- The Ellesmere Port plant manufactures the Opel/Vauxhall Astra sold locally and some of those exported to other countries outside the region. It therefore produces both left-hand drive and right-hand drive models. PSA's plan would be to limit the production of this plant to the right-hand drive Astra, which would mean a volume of between 30,000 and 60,000 units depending on the year.
- In 2018, 32,000 right-hand drive Astras were sold worldwide, compared to 50,000 in 2017 and 60,000 in 2016.
- This change is expected to occur with the arrival of the new generation of the Astra in 2021. It would mean that the Ellesmere Port plant would lose half its capacity at that time.
- The left-hand-drive Astra models previously produced at the Ellesmere Port site will not be transferred to the PSA site in Gliwice (Poland), which has a very low labour cost, but to the Rüsselsheim site (Germany), which will lose production of the Opel Zafira at the end of 2019. This transfer will not require any increase in capacity at the Rüsselsheim site, since the number of Astra units transferred will correspond approximately to the number of Zafira units assembled there. The Opel Astra will therefore be produced at three sites in Europe.
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