Vauxhall owner Stellantis has confirmed plans to close its 120-year-old Luton plant, with the potential loss of 1,100 jobs.

Stellantis will close the Luton plant in Q2 this year and consolidate production at Ellesmere Port under a £50m investment

The announcement was made today (5 February) amid ongoing rows over the UK’s ZEV mandate and follows a meeting between the Business Secretary, Transport Secretary and the Energy Minister with large car and van manufacturers, including Stellantis, over the zero-emission vehicle sales targets and the current consultation on the rules.

Stellantis was due to start production of the group’s medium-size electric vans at Luton from the first half of 2025, following the start of small electric LCV production at its Ellesmere Port site in 2023.

Instead, the group will now close Luton in Q2 this year and consolidate production at Ellesmere Port under a £50m investment.

The global vehicle maker first warned of the closure in November 2024, which it said was being made within the context of the UK’s “stringent” ZEV mandate, which levies increasing targets for zero-emission car and van sales. Although Stellantis was one of a few OEMs to comply with the 2024 targets through sales – without needing to use ‘flexibilities’ – the group  has repeatedly lambasted the rules. Former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares described the ZEV mandate as “terrible” and warned that it could “kill” the domestic car industry.

A spokesperson for Stellantis said: “Stellantis confirms its plan to invest £50m to strengthen the Ellesmere Port plant as its UK commercial vehicle hub, demonstrating both its commitment and long-term sustainability to UK production.

“The required consultation period with Unite the Union, which has been detailed and constructive, has now finished and we are engaging with all interested parties to ensure that the employees have the best possible advice for their future.

“These employees are our priority and we will continue to act responsibly towards those in Luton.

“Production will cease in Luton in Q2 2025, with a period of transforming and transferring machinery and process knowledge to Ellesmere Port. Production of the group’s medium all-electric LCV range (eK0) in Ellesmere Port will commence in Q4 2026.”

Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the news would be “deeply concerning” for the employees at Luton who will be affected and their families.

Reynolds added: “We have a longstanding partnership with Stellantis and have engaged with them extensively throughout this process, including discussions over the past week and today. We will continue to work closely with them, the trade unions and Luton council to put in place measures to support the local community.

“The UK has one of the strongest EV markets in the world and we continue to back our leading electric vehicle industry with £2.3bn as we work closely with them to deliver the transition to cleaner vehicles.”

Trade union Unite said Stellantis’s “betrayal” of its Luton workforce was “a total disgrace”.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham added: “Once again, UK workers have been exposed to a company willing to sacrifice our manufacturing base for fleeting gains – this has to change.

“We urgently need an industrial strategy that puts the national interest at the heart of decision making in manufacturing, as they do in other countries.”

The Government’s consultation on the ZEV mandate and the 2030 petrol and diesel car phase-out, reinstated by Labour, opened on 24 December 2024.

Launched after months of warnings from carmakers of “irreversible damage” from the EV rules, the consultation commits to maintaining the trajectories in the ZEV mandate – for 2025, this requires 28% of new car sales to be ZEV and 16% for vans – while also considering how the current arrangements and flexibilities are working and what steps can be taken to support domestic manufacturing to “cement the UK’s position as one of the major European markets for zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs)”.

It also looks at stakeholders’ preferences on technology choices and the types of vehicles permitted between 2030 and 2035 alongside zero-emission vehicles.