A union has vowed to fight "tooth and nail" to secure the future of Ellesmere Port's Vauxhall plant after the firm's chief said it could cease all production at the plant if Brexit makes it unprofitable.
Unite, the country's largest union representing car workers, has demanded that Prime Minister Boris Johnson take a no-deal Brexit off the table.
Carlos Tavares said the firm could use alternative plants on mainland Europe to build future vehicles if the UK Government doesn't get a deal with the EU - a move that would put more than 1,000 jobs at the Ellesmere Port site at risk .
Unite assistant general secretary, Steve Turner, said: "Vauxhall is great British brand with a fantastic, efficient workforce. Unite has been in positive discussions with PSA about a new vehicle agreement and securing new models for Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant.
“All that hard work is now hanging by a thread as Boris Johnson and his government of hard Brexiteers play no deal roulette with the livelihoods of thousands of Vauxhall workers and their colleagues in the supply chain.
“A no-deal Brexit, or a deal that throws up barriers and tariffs would be catastrophic for Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port workers and the UK car industry and make plants inefficient, components less attractive and cars built in the UK more expensive for export."
Best for Britain, a group committed to stopping Brexit, also called for a stop to what it called a "Brexit-induced crisis".
Speaking to the Financial Times on Sunday, Mr Tavares had said the French car giant needed "visibility" on customs for parts coming and going from Europe and the rest of the world - something a no-deal Brexit would risk due to its possibility of checks and tarrifs.
He said: "I would prefer to put it [production of the Astra] in Ellesmere Port but if the conditions are bad and I cannot make it profitable, then I have to protect the rest of the company and I will not do it.
“We need visibility on customs for parts coming from continental Europe or from the rest of the world, and we need visibility on the customs for cars coming out of the UK to continental Europe. Those are the only things we need – everything else we’ll take care of.”
The Ellesmere Port site employs more than 1,000 people from its surrounding areas, including Wirral, Liverpool and Cheshire, from where it makes its best-selling Astra model.
If the site closed, the site in Luton would be Vauxhall's only remaining UK plant.
In June, Vauxhall said the result of Brexit negotiations would be the deciding factor in whether it makes its next Astra model at the Ellesmere Port plant.
Mr Turner said Unite is in "continuing discussions" with PSA.
He said: "We will not sit back and allow PSA Group to walk away from making cars in the UK to then sell cars made elsewhere back into what is the fifth biggest car market in the world. The workforce stands ready to do everything in its power to protect Ellesmere Port jobs and will fight tooth and nail to safeguard car production volumes at the plant.
“We would urge the UK government to meet with us urgently to help us secure the future of both Vauxhall Ellesmere Port and our ‘jewel in the crown’ automotive sector which is now at serious risk following a ramping up of no deal posturing.
“These jobs matter and once they go they are gone forever slamming the door on the ability of future generations to prosper from decent well paid work. Boris Johnson and his team need to come to Ellesmere Port and tell this talented workforce directly that they will not send them to the dole queue.
“It is imperative for the future of the livelihoods of thousands of people who depend on Vauxhall Ellesmere Port that a no deal Brexit is taken off the table and a deal reached with the European Union that secures frictionless trade and tariff free access.”
Jo Stevens MP, part of the Best for Britain group, said: “The car industry is in a Brexit-induced crisis. More and more peoples’ livelihoods are at risk as Boris Johnson embarks on his grossly reckless do or die Brexit strategy.
“He needs to face reality and tell the truth for once. Brexit is a disaster for UK manufacturing. There’s nothing patriotic, positive or optimistic about it.
“It’s not too late to stop Brexit and the damage it’s causing across the country.”
