Groupe PSA has announced that its Luton site, which produces the Vauxhall and Opel Vivaro, Peugeot Expert and Citroën Dispatch vans, has introduced a third shift in response to rising van demand.
The plant closed mid-March along with PSA’s other facilities across Europe but resumed activity on 18 May with one shift after the deployment of a protocol of reinforced health measures. Growing demand for the vans prompted a second shift from 1 June and the third shift came into effect on 12 July to increase output at the site.
In agreement with trade union Unite, 188 volunteer employees from the Ellesmere Port plant and the Parts Distribution Centre in Luton are assisting the workforce at Luton on a temporary basis bringing the total workforce there to 1,750 staff.
Vauxhall has also announced its Ellesmere Port will resume production mid-August, exactly five months after it halted work due to the pandemic.
Although Vauxhall said in April that the plant, which produces the Astra, had deployed a protocol of reinforced health measures, with a view to reopening, it’s the first time a definitive date has been announced.
It’s one of the last carmakers to reopen work in the UK; PSA, Honda and BMW as well as Nissan and Toyota all resumed work at their facilities in May and June.
The reopening at Ellesmere Port comes after its protocol of reinforced health measures was fully audited and greenlit by Unite. The protocol comprises more than 100 measures covering all the company’s activities at industrial, administrative, R&D and commercial level.
