Vauxhall Motors has announced plans to reduce the employee headcount its Ellesmere Port factory by a further 241.

The PSA Group-owned car manufacturer announced on Friday (November 23) that it had entered into a 45-day consultation period with Trade Union and employee representatives to propose a restructuring of the Ellesmere Port Manufacturing Plant – resulting in the job losses.

At a National Joint Negotiation Committee meeting, the manufacturer said that it planned to “align headcount and production costs with the 2019 production forecasts and plans”.

It added in a statement: “The 2019 plan encompasses site compression, implementation of new technologies and other transformation activities which will impact on headcount requirements. 

“This restructuring requires a planned phased reduction in headcount by 241 heads during 2019.

“This restructuring is critical to ensure that the Ellesmere Port plant develops its competitiveness during this difficult time within the industry.  

“The restructuring is necessary to make it a competitive plant when compared to the benchmark.”

In January this year Vauxhall announced that job losses at Ellesmere Port would reach 650 since the manufacturer’s takeover by the PSA Group, following a new wave of cuts.

Vauxhall invited voluntary redundancies as it attempted to shed a further 250 staff on top of the 400 job losses it announced in October last year.

Measures to boost efficiency have already resulted in the loss of a third of the plant’s 1,800 workforce since PSA took ownership of the site.

Following Opel and Vauxhall’s acquisition from former owner General Motors in a £1.9 billion acquisition finalised in August last year, PSA said that there would be no need for plant closures as it attempted to turn around the fortunes of the brands which had failed to deliver a profit since 1999.

PSA wants the Opel and Vauxhall brand’s to generate a positive operational free cash flow by 2020 as well as an operating margin of two percent by 2020 and 6% by 2026.

Vauxhall said that it remains committed to achieve its “essential restructuring” at Ellesmere Port without having to utilise compulsory redundancies.

It also outlined the possibility for employees to transfer their employment to its manufacturing plant in Luton, with relocation support offered to interested employees.