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 U.K. 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. U.K. car output slumped 15% in October, its eighth consecutive month of decline.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.