This is probably the first time, across all sectors, that an industrialist also directly links an operational decision on the United Kingdom to the conclusion of a divorce agreement with the EU. PSA warned Thursday that it would entrust the manufacture of its future Astra to its factory Vauxhall Ellesmere Port, Wales, a two-pronged condition: the validation by employees of a competitiveness agreement already negotiated with the unions … and the conclusion by Theresa May’s successor, by October 31, of an amicable divorce agreement with the EU.
Where the aircraft manufacturer Airbus was content to let the threat of relocations hover in the case of hard Brexit, the car manufacturer makes the consequences of a “no deal” scenario very concrete: the future of the 1,000 employees of the Ellesmere Port plant is at stake.
Causality link
The builder also blames the decision on the future prime minister, at the crucial moment of Theresa May’s succession race. In particular Boris Johnson, who, unlike the other candidate still in the running Jeremy Hunt, warned that he was ready to leave the EU in late October with or without agreement. “Do or die. Come what may “(” Walk or die. he even said this week.
Finally, it establishes a direct causal link between a “no deal” and the future of the site, where neither Honda announcing the closure of its Swindon plant, nor Ford by unveiling that of its Bridgen engine plant had openly put their decisions on Brexit’s account. The SMMT, which represents car manufacturers and sellers in the UK, said Tuesday that in case of hard Brexit, any minute of delay in supplies, related to the reinstatement of border controls, would cost up to 50,000 pounds in sector, and every day 70 million.
Three departure plans
The Ellesmere Port site has already experienced in one year three successive departure plans ( 400 in October 2017 , then 250 in January and 240 in November 2018) which have melted its workforce from 1,900 to 1,000 people.
PSA on the other hand confirmed without waiting that it will entrust from 2021 the production of the future Astra, which will be available under the brand Vauxall but also Opel, to its German factory of Rüsselheim.