Fate of 5,500 Vauxhall Motors workers uncertain: Report

LONDON: The fate of 5,500 Vauxhall Motors workers is uncertain after the German government agreed on a deal with the new owner of the European arm of General Motors Magna International, a media report says.

"Fears are growing for the future of 5,500 British jobs at Vauxhall Motors after Germany agreed a deal with the new owner of the European arm of General Motors," the Sunday Times said.

Canada-based autoparts maker Magna International and Russia's Sberbank have reached a tentative deal to acquire the European operations of US carmaker General Motors, which is expected to file for bankruptcy in a New York court tomorrow.

Under a deal agreed on Friday night the German government is providing an emergency loan of 1.3 billion pound to Magna, which has backing from a Russian bank, the report said.

The report said "union leaders in Britain fear that if there is overcapacity it will be the Vauxhall plants at Luton, Bedfordshire, and Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, that will suffer cuts or closures."

The newspaper further reported Peter Mandelson, the UK business secretary, as saying that Magna had made clear it was committed to continuing production in the UK. But he added: "Of course, it will involve change. There is excess capacity."