Bye Bye Vauxhall

LONDON AP reported this story: General Motors ended production of Vauxhall cars on Thursday at its factory in Luton, where 1,900 jobs have become casualties of restructuring in the auto industry and the strength of the British currency.

After the final car, a silver V6 Vectra model, rolled off the production line, the last few hundred workers were sent home, many of them furious at losing long-term jobs.

"I feel very let down. I have been here for 15 years and I'm very sad and angry," said production operator John Kingham, 36, who plans to work as a truck driver. "I think the hierarchy of the unions have let us down and betrayed us."

Tony Woodley, an official of the Transport and General Workers' Union, agreed that "a modern, productive, efficient, profitable car plant is closing when by any measure it should have stayed open."

"It is being sacrificed for no good reason other than trying to increase shareholder value," he said.

Vauxhall Motors Ltd., the British subsidiary of General Motors Corp. , announced the plant closure at the end of 2000.

About 30,000 GM workers across Europe staged brief walkouts on Jan. 25, 2001 to denounce the plan.

Vauxhall has said the decision to stop building passenger cars at Luton stemmed in part from the strength of the British pound against the euro, which made it more difficult to compete on the European continent.

About 500 Luton workers were transferred to a nearby plant which produces sports utility vehicles, and some others were moved to a Vauxhall factory near Liverpool.

Luton is the second major auto factory to close in Britain this year. Ford Motor Co. stopped building cars at its plant in Dagenham, East London on Feb. 20, ending 71 years of production on the site.