Stellantis has announced plans to close its long-running commercial vehicle factory in Luton, just months after Group bosses threatened closures as part of a battle with the government over its zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) targets.
The announcement, which puts 1100 jobs at risk, is part of a move to “consolidate” its UK manufacturing footprint and one that will “potentially contribute to greater production efficiency”, something the car maker says would allow it to meet increasingly stringent ZEV targets (26% EV sales mix in 2026).
The global car maker says that if proposals announced today are given the go-ahead, all Luton’s production operations would be moved to Ellesmere Port to create “an all-electric, sustainable vehicle hub”. The Ellesmere site last year began making EV following a £100m transformation.
Just a few hundred jobs would be moved to Ellesmere, Stellantis says. A consultation has been launched for those workers.
It follows a long running battle with the UK government over its zero-emissions vehicles (ZEV) mandate, which in August resulted in CEO Carlos Tavares threatening plant closures as part of a review in its UK operations.
Tavares, who recently announced he will retire in 2028, said the ZEV mandate “is hurting significantly our business model”.
His words came a month after former Stellantis UK boss Maria Grazia Davino warned that the company could stop building vehicles in the country if the government’s electrification initiatives create a “hostile” trading environment.
The Luton plant on Kimpton Road has a history dating back nearly 120 years. It was opened in 1905 when Vauxhall needed to expand from its original site in South London, and has produced vehicles since then.
General Motors bought Vauxhall in 1925, and rapidly expanded the factory. In 1931 it launched commercial vehicle brand Bedford, which made lorries, buses and coaches at the site.
During the Second World War the plant was used to make lorries and tanks for the war effort. When civilian production returned it initially focused on cars for export before starting production of the Wyvern and Velox models. In the 1950s around 36,000 people worked at the site.
Vauxhall opened its Ellesmere Port factory in the 1960s, while some of the brand’s other cars were badge-engineered efforts produced by other GM plants in Spain. But Luton found huge success in the 1970s with the Cavalier, which proved such a success a new production line and paint shop were built.
In 1986 the adjacent Bedford Vehicles factory was turned into a joint venture with Isuzu, before GM regained full control in 1998. It is now run by Stellantis subsidiary IBC Vehicles Limited.
