May 2003

- by Brian Byrne

GM to build Astra in UK

14 May 2003: General Motors is to invest £80m in its Ellesmere Port plant to build the next Vauxhall Astra, which will have something very close to the GTC Geneve (above) in its lineup.

At a ceremony yesterday to mark the centenary of Vauxhall, GM's UK subsidiary, chairman and chief executive Rick Wagoner said the euro is not a 'do or die issue' for GM as regards investment.

He was launching the VX Lightning roadster, Vauxhall's first concept car for 25 years, and he said currency issues were not the biggest factor affecting investment.

"roduct range and closeness to market are more important," Wagoner said.

Britain is GM's biggest European market, with 350,000 sales last year.

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