Stellantis has announced the launch of a consultation with its employees and union partners regarding a proposal to consolidate its light commercial vehicle (LCV) production in the UK to create a hub for fully electric and sustainable vehicles at its Ellesmere Port site in Cheshire through a £50 million investment.
Stellantis plans to invest in Ellesmere Port to launch sustainable mass production
The proposal, presented in the context of the UK’s ZEV mandate, will potentially contribute to greater production efficiency, including additional production of medium-sized battery electric LCVs, and will support the Company’s ambition to become the world’s No. 1 LCV manufacturer. Ellesmere Port is proposed as the UK’s new fully electric LCV hub to leverage UK employees’ expertise on the new line, the site’s footprint, and proximity to the Green Automotive Hub located at the adjacent Queen Elizabeth II Eastham Docks and the recently built 59,500 m² Stellantis UK parts distribution center.
In 2021, Stellantis invested £100 million at Ellesmere Port to transform the facility into a battery electric LCV production site, making it Stellantis’s first worldwide dedicated battery electric vehicle plant. Today, it is the first and only volume EV-only manufacturing plant in the UK building the company’s small LCV range of Citroën ë-Berlingo, Vauxhall Combo Electric, Opel Combo Electric, Peugeot E-Partner, and Fiat E-Doblo.
The company has transformed the Ellesmere Port plant with a new body shop, enhanced general assembly, site area compression, and the creation of on-site battery pack assembly. Additionally, there is further support to enable a path toward carbon neutrality for the plant by the end of this decade, and the facility aims to be 100% self-sufficient for electricity.
While strengthening Ellesmere Port as a sustainable LCV hub in the UK with the transfer of Luton operations, Stellantis remains committed to acting responsibly toward its Luton employees and, if the business proposal is approved, will offer relocation support to facilitate employees wishing to transfer to the Ellesmere Port site with an attractive package, where hundreds of permanent jobs will be created.
Comprehensive dedicated employment support, including retraining opportunities, for all affected employees will also be implemented in the very active Luton area, just one mile from the international airport. At the same time, Stellantis will work with local government and local employers to identify new job opportunities in the Luton area for Stellantis employees who might be affected by this proposal if it moves forward.
Stellantis intends to continue being the UK market leader in electric light commercial vehicles, with over 32,000 vehicles already sold in the country since launch, and will continue to be the only volume manufacturer of light commercial vehicles in the UK.
The proposal to optimize the light commercial vehicle production footprint in the UK and new investments in the country support Stellantis Pro One‘s ambition to become the world’s number 1 light commercial vehicle manufacturer and Stellantis, which is committed to becoming a zero-carbon emissions company by 2038, across all scopes, with single-digit percentage compensation of remaining emissions.