Peugeot to close Coventry plant

It's been announced today that Peugeot will close it's massive Ryton plant on the outskirts of Coventry in a years time. The news has not come as a shock, because PSA had refused to earmark any more investment. Last year we saw the demise of MG Rover in nearby Birmingham and the closure of the Browns Lane Jaguar plant in Coventry.

The massive motor industry in Coventry has just been dealt another nail in it's coffin and is another example of the effects of globalization. At one time it was British companies that made cars at this plant in Ryton and then PSA bought out Talbot in the late 1970's and even after millions of pounds of Government handouts to keep production in Britain - it is the end of an era for the 1939 car plant. Production is moving to Eastern Europe, where it is cheaper to produce models.

Over the past year or two Peugeot has cut shift numbers down in a general wind-down in Coventry, so the loss of 2,300 jobs doesn't seem as bad yet it's 1% of Coventry's population who will have to find a new career. This will have a devastating effects on the local economy.

The Humber and Hillman were models that had been previously produced at this factory and it's another example of Britain becoming weak in Europe. This would not have happened in France!

A bad day for the people living here........................