The EV Transition Is Leaving the UK Auto Industry Behind
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-11-30/vauxhall-jobs-in-luton-at-risk-are-latest-sign-of-uk-car-industry-in-crisis
Posted by bloomberg
The EV Transition Is Leaving the UK Auto Industry Behind
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-11-30/vauxhall-jobs-in-luton-at-risk-are-latest-sign-of-uk-car-industry-in-crisis
Posted by bloomberg
2 comments
**From Bloomberg’s Jamie Nimmo:**
Tony Vitty hasn’t worked at the Vauxhall van plant in Luton, north of London, for years. And yet, the retired 74-year-old speaks about parent company Stellantis NV’s plans to shutter the site as if he were losing his own job.
“It’s devastating,” the former quality control manager said of the 1,100 workers now at risk. “At least half of them have got mortgages, and there isn’t that kind of work around. It’s going to end up possibly being a ghost town.”
Vauxhall has been inextricably linked with Luton for 120 years, creating jobs and boosting the local economy — at its peak, it employed about 37,000 people in the town. Local residents aren’t the only ones feeling the pain as the UK auto industry sinks further into crisis, with demand for gasoline-powered vehicles falling and manufacturers struggling to meet the government’s ambitious targets for electric-vehicle adoption. UK car output slumped 15% in October, its eighth consecutive month of decline.
Ford Motor Co. announced plans last week to eliminate around 800 roles in the UK by the end of 2027. Nissan, along with Ford and Stellantis, warned about the impact of the zero-emission vehicle sales mandate, hinting at potential job cuts. And Jaguar unveiled a rebranding in anticipation of its all-EV future that was widely panned.
Once renowned globally for producing brands such as Mini and Jaguar, the UK car industry has been in decline for years, with Brexit and high energy costs adding to its challenges. The country wants to be a leader in EVs but has lagged other countries in establishing the necessary plants and battery factories.
The UK was transitioned to a service economy in the 80s and 90s by the Tories. We don’t make stuff anymore, we make numbers go bigger in someone’s computer system. This would be all well and good if we had provided jobs and training for the population, but we didn’t, we just said “You’re not a miner anymore” and that was the end of discussion.
Of course our manufacturing industry is falling behind. No one has given half a shit about it for 40 years.
Comments are closed.