Vauxhall Vivaro to be made in Luton
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Vauxhall has confirmed the future of its Luton factory by announcing plans to build the new Vivaro van there.
Production of the van will begin in 2013, safeguarding over 1,000 manufacturing jobs.
‘The Luton plant will continue to play an important role in the Opel/Vauxhall manufacturing network,’ the company said in a statement yesterday.
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey welcomed the news. ‘It secures the future of Vauxhall in Luton and puts to rest any uncertainty over jobs,’ he said.
‘Without a new model Luton would have closed, instead the plant has work until at least 2020 and 1,500 jobs have been secured.’
Both the original Vivaro and the second-generation model were jointly developed with Renault, which produces its own version of the van known as the Trafic.
The decision to build the new vans at Luton follows an agreement between the two companies made last year to continue their cooperation in the light commercial vehicle sector.
The current Vivaro and Trafic models were first produced in 2001, and by the end of 2010 Opel/Vauxhall and Renault had built over 1.25 million Trafic and Vivaro.
