Car production slump fuels call for massive aid; One major firm on brink, claims union BRITAIN.Byline: By PETER WOODMAN RENEWED calls for Government help for the beleaguered be·lea·guer tr.v. be·lea·guered, be·lea·guer·ing, be·lea·guers 1. To harass; beset: We are beleaguered by problems. 2. To surround with troops; besiege. motor industry were made yesterday after figures showed car production slumped again last month. Car manufacturers, the Conservatives and the AA all urged the Government to act. And union leaders repeated their warning that the closure of a car factory was "imminent", with the potential loss of thousands of jobs, unless the Government took urgent measures to boost the industry. The figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) is the trade association for the United Kingdom motor industry. See also
SMMT Short Message Mobile Terminated SMMT System Mechanic Mobile Toolkit ) showed 61,404 cars were produced in January 2009 - a 58.7% drop on the January 2008 figure. Commercial vehicle production totalled 8,351 - a 59.9% fall on the January 2008 figure. The only good news was 83.5% of cars made last month were allocated for export - a record for any January. The gloomy figures came as the Swedish car giant Saab announced a protection- from-creditors reorganisation strategy. Tony Woodley Tony Woodley (born Wirral 2 January 1948) is a British Trade Union leader who came to prominence in June 2003 when he was elected to succeed Bill Morris as General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union (T&G). and Derek Simpson, joint leaders of the Unite union The Unite Union (Unite) is a trade union in New Zealand. It is the sponsor of the Supersizemypay.com campaign directed towards improving working conditions for fast food workers in the country. Unite is affiliated with the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions. , have held private talks with Chancellor Alistair Darling, telling him manufacturing would not recover from the recession unless "urgent assistance" was given. Mr Woodley said he knew of one automotive company close to running out of money, putting 6,000 jobs at risk, but he maintained it would be "irresponsible" to name the firm. A Business Department spokesman said: "Comments of this nature are potentially very damaging - we are not going to comment on speculation. "The Regional Development Agencies are actively supporting the supply chain, many of those companies also have access to existing Government support." Shadow business secretary Ken Clarke said the production figures confirmed the "so-called rescue package" which Business Secretary Lord Mandelson announced last month was "having no effect". Mr Clarke said: "The car industry is in crisis but the Government is still dithering. "We should at least ensure that people who can afford new cars can obtain the finance to buy them. Ministers must adopt our proposals to include the finance arms of the car companies in a National Loan Guarantee Scheme immediately." CAPTION(S): Chancellor Alistair Darling has been urged to provide major help to struggling car makers |
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