Ellesmere Port and the fears for Vauxhall
The Vauxhall operation at Ellesmere Port in the north-west of England appears under serious threat as the UK car market continues to fall to new lows. As we covered in one of our earlier articles the car manufacturing industry as a whole has written to the Treasury requesting assistance in the short term in the form of financial borrowings.
While these demands are likely to be ignored there is great concern for not only Vauxhall jobs in Ellesmere Port but also the massive impact a closure would have on the local economy. Many UK cities and local economies now depend upon overseas car manufacturing operations which have all suffered of late. The government is unlikely to give direct cash to the industry, as this may open the floodgates, but some form of tax relief or tax rebate may well be an option as there are literally tens of thousands of jobs and livelihoods at risk.
Not only have we seen new car and second-hand car prices collapse over the last two months but the number of transactions is only a fraction of that seen just 12 months ago. There are literally thousands of cars piled high around the UK waiting to be sold with prices forever falling as dealers look to bring in much-needed cash to the business.
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