Report: PSA to Cut 400 Vauxhall Jobs in U.K.

PSA Group will drop a production shift and eliminate 400 jobs at its Vauxhall assembly plant in Ellesmere Port, England, by year-end, sources tell Automotive News Europe.

PSA is expected to announce the cuts on Monday. The factory, which builds Astra hatchbacks and wagons, currently employs about 1,700 people.

ANE notes that the decision may foreshadow the complete closure of the factory when production of the current-generation Astra ends there in 2021. The Ellesmere Port facility’s future after that date has been in doubt since PSA acquired Opel AG and its Vauxhall unit in August.

Separately, PSA confirmed that its French factories in Mulhouse and Sochaux will get next-generation small and midsize models, thereby securing their viability over the next 10 years. But the outlook for many auto plants in Great Britain is cloudy after the U.K. exits the European Union in 2019.

Unless England can negotiate new tariff-free agreements with the EU, it faces higher costs for imported auto parts. Most components used by the Vauxhall facility are imported from Europe. ANE adds that Vauxhall sales fell 20% in the first eight months of this year.