GM chooses UK plant over Germany for new Astra

LONDON (Reuters) - General Motors Co opted to build the next generation of its Astra compact in Britain, leaving its plant in Bochum, Germany in danger of closure as it revamps the business to counter more than a decade of losses in Europe. The U.S. carmaker said on Thursday it would invest $200 million in its Ellesmere Port plant in northwest England to build the car after workers at the site overwhelmingly agreed to a new pay deal. ...

General Motors Co will build the next generation of its Astra compact in Britain after workers at its factory in Ellesmere Port, northwest England, overwhelmingly agreed to a new labor deal, leaving its ...

LONDON (Reuters) - General Motors Co opted to build the next generation of its Astra compact in Britain, leaving its plant in Bochum, Germany in danger of closure as it revamps the business to counter more than a decade of losses in Europe.

BOCHUM/BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) - The head of German carmaker Opel, under pressure from parent General Motors to end losses, refused to promise workers at its plant in Bochum on Monday that their jobs would be safeguarded after 2014. The plant, located in the rust-belt Ruhr region devastated by coal mine closures, is expected to shut after the company chose to build the next generation of its popular Astra compact in Britain and Poland where wages are cheaper. ...

Vauxhall, the British division of US carmaker General Motors, said Thursday it would build the new Astra model at its northern England plant in a £125-million ($198 million, 156-million-euro) investment."Vauxhall today confirmed that production of its next-generation Astra compact car will be built at the company's manufacturing plant at Ellesmere Port in Cheshire," the group said in an official statement."Ellesmere Port will be the lead plant of only two in Europe building the new model." The car will also be built in Poland.

BOCHUM, Germany/ELLESMERE PORT, England (Reuters) - A golden anniversary is usually cause for celebration, but at General Motors' car plants at Bochum in western Germany and Ellesmere Port in northwest England, the talk is of closure, not their openings in 1962. Economic weakness across much of Europe has hit car sales, forcing the sector to address a capacity overhang. GM Chief Executive Dan Akerson estimates that manufacturers have 10 plants too many across the continent. ...

BOCHUM, Germany/ELLESMERE PORT, England (Reuters) - A golden anniversary is usually cause for celebration, but at General Motors' car plants at Bochum in western Germany and Ellesmere Port in northwest England, the talk is of closure, not their openings in 1962.