More car jobs are under threat

MORE British workers face the threat of redundancy at General Motors, the world's largest carmaker, as part of a European-wide restructuring plan.

Vauxhall, GM's UK subsidiary, announced last December it would end car-making at Luton, Bedfordshire, with the loss of 2,000 jobs.

But GM's pressing operation at Ellesmere Port on Merseyside and its Luton-based IBC plant, which makes vans, are first in line to be slimmed down in a new cost-cutting programme. It is also considering selling the pressing operation, which employs about 700, or forming a joint venture with a supply company.

Industry experts believe GM wants to reduce output from its plants and cut non-core manufacturing areas, such as the pressing of body panels, rather than shut factories outright because of fierce union opposition.

One industry analyst said: 'If there is a choice between scaling down a British operation or a German one, it is the UK one that will suffer. Carmakers don't want to carry the exchange rate risk from sterling being outside the euro.' Professor Garel Rhys of Cardiff Business School said: 'Like Ford, GM will discover that the best option is to grasp the nettle and close plants.'