Recruitment Advice

The British car industry was put under further scrutiny today as new figures shown that production has halved in the last 12 months.

New car production in the UK fell dramatically in January from a year earlier, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). A total of 61,404 news cars were produced last month, 58.7% lower than January 2008, as plants closed for extended winter shutdowns. Construction of commercial vehicles slumped by an even larger 59.9 per cent.

And there was yet more woe as Saab, which has 80 dealerships in the UK, announced it was filing for protection against creditors in a bid to save its business.

Reductions in workforces.

Several car firms have had to cut jobs and reduce workers’ hours in response to slowing demand.

Aston Martin are currently axing 600 jobs in Warwickshire

Ford has said up to 850 UK workers at the firm would be offered voluntary redundancy packages.

Jaguar Land Rover, Bentley and Toyota, which have just announced pay freezes for all of their staff and they have announced that there will be either job cuts or production reductions.

Workers in the UK’s Vauxhall plants also fear that redundancy is on the cards, they are waiting for more announcements by the company’s US parent General Motors.