The announcement that in the January-March quarter of 2012 the value of car exports exceeded car imports for the first time since 1976 is unqualified good news.  It is, in particular, a tribute to the owners, designers, engineers, production staff and sales forces of BMW-Mini in Oxford, Land Rover-Jaguar in the Midlands, Vauxhall in Cheshire, Nissan in Sunderland, Toyota in Derbyshire and Honda in Swindon.  Noteworthy as well are the extraordinary percentage increases in the sales of Rolls Royce at Chichester and Bentley at Crewe.  The geographical spread of car factories in England is matched by the wide spread of the supply chain across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The announcement on 17 May that General Motors will invest a further £125 million in Vauxhall’s Astra plant at Ellesmere Port to raise production to 220,000  per annum (most for export) was accompanied by a requirement that the workforce accept three-shift operations, a two year pay freeze and only a 0.75% rise for two years after that.  The plant will thus be able to produce cars round-the-clock for 51 weeks per year (one week’s closure being needed for maintenance) and compete on price with General Motors’ other Astra plant in Poland.  With around £1 billion per annum being spent in the supply chain (accounting for another 3,000 skilled jobs) these results underline that increasing manufactured goods for the growing export markets outside the EU is the only secure way to grow the economy.  Public sector employees – teachers and doctors especially, should take note of the self-sacrifice involved in these private sector developments and reduce their own demands.

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