!NEW! Vauxhall Celebrating 36 years of Britain's iconic Vauxhall Astra

• Vauxhall Motors launches new seventh generation Astra
• New generation model secures 2,000 jobs at the Ellesmere Port plant
• Five million cars manufactured at Ellesmere Port since 1962

Vauxhall Motors celebrates over 36 years of its iconic Brit-built Astra, with a patriotic Union Jack created by 128 of its new 7th generation models.

To celebrate the launch of the all-new seventh generation Vauxhall Astra, workers at the Ellesmere Port manufacturing plant – home of the Astra for over 36 years – choreographed 128 new models to create the image of the Union Jack flag.

Vauxhall’s seventh generation Astra is the eleventh major model-line to be built at Ellesmere Port and guarantees 2,000 jobs at the Cheshire plant over the next decade.  The plant secured a long-term contract in 2012 and a £140 million investment which further demonstrates the brand’s continued commitment to manufacturing the iconic car in Britain.

The patriotic image, orchestrated in under 24-hours, pays tribute to over 36 years of manufacturing the Brit-built best-seller, which has seen over five million cars roll off the Ellesmere Port production line. Three million have been sold in the UK alone – with 50,000 in the past 12 months and 2 million exported to 25 European markets. It is estimated that at full production in 2016, the plant will build approximately 680 Astras per day with further growth in subsequent years.

The British success story extends beyond the Astra itself – as for over 50 years, Ellesmere Port has been the manufacturing home of every compact class Vauxhall in the UK. With nearly 25 per cent of parts sourced locally from UK suppliers, the plant is a significant contributor the local economy and the continued investment at the facility is set to boost UK manufacturing, utilities, construction, transportation and storage companies by at least £70 million.

New Brit-built Vauxhall Astra – In Numbers:

•  One in four Britons has owned an Astra
• c25% of a Vauxhall Astra is produced from British sourced materials
• It takes approximately 24 hours to build an Astra, from sheet steel to the finished article – this is expected to reduce to just 22 hours as production grows
• 3 million Astras have been sold over the past 36 years - 50,000 in the past 12 months
• 5 million vehicles have been manufactured at Ellesmere Port, with 2 million exported to 25 European markets
• £140m investment in the Ellesmere Port factory
• The Ellesmere Port plant will build approximately 680 cars per day and 120,000 per year

Tim Tozer, Vauxhall’s Chairman and Managing Director said, “The all-new Brit built Astra raises the bar in terms of quality, design and connectivity.  Lighter than ever before, with new powertrains and cutting-edge technology, the new Astra is set to shake up the C-segment with it arrives in showrooms.”

He continued, “The Vauxhall Astra has been one of Britain’s best-selling and most-loved cars produced for over three decades. The next generation Astra not only continues to drive this legacy and celebrate the strong British heritage of the brand, but is also a key investment for the home of the Astra – Ellesmere Port – and celebrating the workers who have built the vehicle to world class levels of quality and productivity, making it a household name.”

The all-new Astra is in Vauxhall showrooms from October, priced from £15,295 on the road.

!NEW! Vauxhall reveals quality secret as 5-millionth car leaves Ellesmere Port

Today, in its 50th year as one of the UK’s most prolific car plants, Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port factory has released dramatic footage of a vehicle sign-off like no other, while celebrating the five-millionth car to be produced at the Cheshire plant.

5-millionth Vauxhall leaving Ellesmere Port

News of the landmark car will be an extra boost for the near-1,800 workforce at EP, who build a new car every two minutes, and is currently gearing up for production of an All-New Astra later in 2015. As the lead manufacturing plant in Europe for the new model, Ellesmere Port is taking on an additional 300 staff next month as part of a £140 million investment by parent General Motors, which will secure the plant’s future into the middle of next decade.

Vauxhall Astra:  5-millionth car from Ellesmere Port plant

Vauxhall started building its compact cars at the Cheshire plant in 1964, and has been responsible for all Viva models (a nameplate that’ll return to the brand next year), the Chevette and all six Astra models from 1982. In all, an average of 100,000 units has left the plant in each of the last 50 years.

But like its sister plant in Luton (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r5FyzPX3W8) Ellesmere Port can also reveal footage of its extreme car sign-off process, which has evolved from clandestine ‘testing’ in the factory during the Sixties and Seventies, to one of the most comprehensive quality validations in the motor industry.

In 1964, when the first Viva HA rolled off the line, Ellesmere’s workforce was as passionate and skilled as it is today, but one employee – known simply as ‘Ellesmere Pete’ – developed a finely-honed test process, which is now used as a rubber-stamp by the factory on all the vehicles it makes.

Pete works during the plant’s downtime, and uses EP’s vast Body Shop to put randomly selected Astras through a variety of tough tests. Suspension components are only signed off after Pete has jettisoned an Astra into mid-air and had it land safely, while steering geometry is analysed by completing a half-circuit of the body-shop on two wheels.

But while the process has always remained the same, from the earliest Viva HA’s right through to modern day, Pete admits to some favourite test-drives around the plant. ‘The Firenza Droopsnoot was a cracker. It had so much poke that the biggest challenge was not clipping some of the machinery as you drifted it between production lines. And when I got my hands on the first Astra GTE back in ’82, it was by far the fastest thing I’d put through the stillage-chicane in Body Shop. I could hit 60 on a good day.’

Ellesmere Port’s current Plant Director, Stefan Fesser, was sceptical about the testing when he arrived in 2013. ‘Of course, Ellesmere Pete is a legend in GM circles, but I wasn’t convinced until I saw the breadth of his high-speed testing in the plant, and the detailed reports he generates. And you know what? After fifty years, he still does a fantastic job of validating the great quality that comes with every car we produce. Long may he continue.’

To view Ellesmere Pete at work, from 1964 to 2014, please click on the following link: http://bit.ly/1w5DhU2

Today’s Astra range is as popular and diverse as ever. With power outputs ranging from 100PS through to 280PS for the VXR model, it almost always features in the UK’s top-five best sellers and is available as a 3-door GTC coupe, 5-door Hatch and Sports Tourer estate. Both the Hatch and Sports Tourer are built at Ellesmere Port, with 76 per cent of total volume going to export.

!NEW! Vauxhall announces All-New Viva

Vauxhall will launch an all-new five-door entry-level model called Viva in Summer next year.

All-New Vauxhall Viva 

The Viva will be the latest edition to Vauxhall’s small car range joining the fashionable A-sector ADAM and the popular Corsa supermini.

Offering an extremely attractive price point, the Viva will have a five-door body style with either four or five seats. Viva will be well specified and come in a range of trims and equipment levels, which will hold great appeal in this rapidly growing sector.

“This bold, radical name will attract attention and engender curiosity in the car,” said Peter Hope, Vauxhall’s Marketing Director.

The five-door model’s name also pays homage to Vauxhall’s original Viva available from 1963 to 1979. Over 1.5 million Vivas were manufactured at Vauxhall’s plant in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.

Designed for modern, everyday life, the all-new model will share the original’s clean lines, durability and practicality.

Opel will use a different name to Viva which will be announced tomorrow (Thursday 11th September 2014).

!NEW! Vauxhall announces 550 new jobs at its Ellesmere Port and Luton plants

• 300 new jobs at Ellesmere Port Astra plant in Cheshire
• Second shift and 250 new jobs at Luton van facility in Bedfordshire

Ellesmere Port - Astra Production

As its business grows and with another new model on the horizon Vauxhall has confirmed that it will take on 550 new employees at its manufacturing sites in Ellesmere Port and Luton, the first significant new-hire programme for a decade.

Around 300 new jobs will be secured at the Ellesmere Port plant in Cheshire.  The plant currently operates on two shifts but as sales volumes build more employees are required to cope with increased output at the facility. The new jobs will be phased in over the first quarter of 2015.

In 2012, Ellesmere Port won the contract to build the next generation, all-new Astra.  Production of this model begins towards the end of 2015. The agreement runs into the next decade and secured a £125 million investment.

Also looking forward to a bright future is Vauxhall’s Luton plant where a second shift is to be added in January 2015, creating around 250 new jobs. The Luton facility builds the recently launched all-new Vivaro van and will be taking on these new employees to increase output next year.  In 2011, Luton won the contract to build the new Vivaro, entailing a £185 million investment.

“This is great news for Vauxhall and for British manufacturing,” said Tim Tozer, Vauxhall’s Chairman and Managing Director. “Both of our UK manufacturing plants have won long contracts with all-new product and as the business strengthens, we now need to take on more people to build these exciting new Vauxhalls.”