Business Secretary to meet Peugeot execs over Vauxhall job fears

The Business Secretary is due to meet Peugeot bosses in the hope of securing the future of Vauxhall’s UK operation, after it was revealed a potential takeover could put 35k jobs at risk.

Greg Clark flew out to Paris last night (February 16) to speak with board members of PSA Group, which owns Peugeot and Citroen, after it emerged the firm is considering a deal to acquire US car giant General Motors’ (GM) European arm.

GM’s operations in Europe, which include its UK Vauxhall plants, have been making a loss since the Pound’s value plummeted in the wake of the EU Referendum.

Mr Clark is expected to meet with French industry minister Christophe Sirugue during his visit to discuss the implications of any future deal between PSA and GM.

When new of the potential takeover surfaced earlier this week, worker’s union Unite raised concerns over the jobs of Vauxhall’s UK workforce.

The company employs 4,500 people at plants in Cheshire and London, in addition to 300 at a customer contact centre and 120 at the headquarters of OnStar, its vehicle security brand.

A further 23k people are employed within Vauxhall’s UK-wide retail network and an estimated 7,000 jobs rely on the firm’s supply chain.

The president of GM, Dan Ammann, met with Mr Clark and Unite general secretary Len McCluskey this week to assure them the aim is to give Vauxhall the “strongest possible position for the future”.

According to ITV News, Mr Ammann said: “While we have no definitive news to report at this time, we can affirm that our objective in exploring opportunities with PSA Groupe is to build on the success of Opel Vauxhall and to put the business and the operations in the strongest possible position for the future.”

If it goes ahead, the deal will give PSA a 16% share of Europe’s auto market, making it the continent’s second-biggest car manufacturer.

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