PSA-GM: The final solution?

It is quite clear that executives of General Motors Europe and PSA Group have been working behind the scenes for quite some time in secret to cobble together a deal to off-load General Motors’ Europe (GME) vehicle-making operations.

Can PSA Group gain where GM loses?

What does Peaguot SA know that so far has eluded General Motors in Europe? It remains to be seen. But, if you’re gonna buy something, you sure as hell gotta make it work.

Spectris gobbles up Millbrook in £122 million deal

Rutland Partners only wanted the former General Motors/Vauxhall Motors’ proving ground at Millbrook for one thing, and one thing only – to make money.

Battle for Silverstone becomes bitter

Having lost out some three years ago in its bid to buy the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire previously owned by General Motors, JaguarLandRover set its cap at buying the Silverstone racing facility.

Calsonic Kansei to open new UK R&D centre

Calsonic Kansei, a supplier of heat exchange, air conditioning, exhaust, interior and electronic automotive components, has created a new R&D centre at Millbrook’s Bedfordshire-based Technology Park in the UK.

Millbrook test cells ready next month

Millbrook Group expects its new engine test cells will be completed and ready for use by the end of next month.

Ricardo: RDE providing a pathway to cleaner diesels

Ricardo claims it has demonstrated processes for evaluating the emission technologies of diesel cars under the forthcoming Real Driving Emissions (RDE) regulations which aim to ensure on-road compliance with published type approval data for fuel economy and emissions.

Torotrak seeks £13.8m to drive transmissions

Torotrak is asking investors to stump up £13.8 million. But will it be money down the drain?

PSA/GM light vans set for Vigo in 2018

Next-generation small light (Transit van look-alike) commercial vehicles from PSA Peugeot Citroën and General Motors will be built in Vigo, Spain

Renault probes two-cylinder two-stroke diesel

Some thermodynamic cycles attract powertrain engineers as habitually, they revisit the past in a bid to create the future.

Go-ahead given for Millbrook extension

Planning consent has been given by Bedfordfordshire Council for nearly 25,000 square metres of offices, and research and development space at the Millbrook Proving Ground at Lidlington, Bedforshire.

This is in addition to consent for three new building offering 6,000 square metres of space as the business seeks to establish a technology park on the site.

Vivaro UK plant: The “crown jewels”?

The latest issue of Autocar describes the Vauxhall Van Plant in Luton, UK, which makes the Vivaro, as the “crown jewel of the motor industry”.

If this is so, then the magazine will have great difficulty in finding superlatives to describe Jaguar’s XE facility at Solihull which, for the first time in the UK, has the distinction of making aluminium body-in-white in large numbers, something that has never been achieved at Luton, which processes steel components. Added to which, JaguarLandRover stamps its own aluminium body pressings, including body sides. The Luton van plant has not stamped aluminium in its entire life! The distinguishing feature of aluminium being that it requires an extremely clean working environment, especially in the press shop.

Vauxhall built only 44,000 vans in 2013

The Vauxhall Van Plant in Luton, UK built over 44,000 vans last year, making it Britain’s number one van maker for the 12^th year running, according to figures released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

The Bedfordshire-based Vauxhall celebrated 110 years of building and selling vehicles in 2013 and achieved 12 years of manufacturing dominance.

GM to bank-roll Millbrook’s pension scheme

It is rumoured that the cost to Rutland Partners of buying Millbrook Proving Ground Ltd is just under £15 million; a figure somewhat lower than some people expected. As part of the consideration, Rutland will not have to fund the employees’ pension scheme. It has not been disclosed how Rutland will finance the deal.

Also as part of the deal, there is a continued agreement from General Motors (GM) and Vauxhall Motors for Millbrook to maintain production of ‘blue light’ vehicles and other conversions. In this event, Millbrook will be a sub-contractor to Vauxhall.

GM will continue to provide durability, testing and engineering design work to Millbrook for a range of Vauxhall/Opel vehicles.

Venture capitalist in the frame for Millbrook

The latest word on the street suggests a venture capital company has moved into first place as the most likely business to acquire the assets of Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire.

These rumours come at a time when JaguarLandRover (JLR), once a strong candidate tipped to take over Millbrook, is now enmeshed with its own new state-of-the-art research facility where it is the lead partner in the project to invest £50m, along with Tata Motors European Technical Centre (TMETC), WMG and the UK Government's Higher Education Funding Council England (HEFCE).

With the new National Automotive Innovation Campus (NAIC) as JLR’s first focus, the prospect of an investment in Millbrook inevitably takes a back seat, paving the way for other possibilities.

Millbrook sale edges closer

Those expecting news of the sale of Millbrook proving ground in Lidlington, Bedfordshire, will have to wait a little while longer for the details to emerge.

Insiders note that while a signing could be ‘close’ the actual public release of contractual details regarding the new owner and its plans for the extensive proving grounds to the north of London will not emerge until ‘late November or early December’.

The process of due diligence, always a problem in the sale of any business, has proved to be unusually lengthy considering the relatively small size of the business.

Car and van records flow at Vauxhall

Vauxhall’s two UK manufacturing plants have both reached production milestones. The 250,000^th Astra Sports Tourer rolled off the production line at Ellesmere Port and the Luton facility built its 900,000^th Vivaro-type van.

Yesterday, workers at Ellesmere Port, Britain’s number one manufacturer of estate cars, held a celebration at the end of the production line as the quarter of a millionth Astra Sports Tourer, the UK’s best-selling estate car, was driven off the production line. Over 2.8 million Astra vehicles have been sold since it went on sale in 1980 with 30,000 sold alone this year.

The Sports Tourer is assembled solely at Ellesmere Port for export across Europe; this reflects the depth of Vauxhall’s engineering and manufacturing excellence in the UK.

Millbrook’s security vital to new owner

Millbrook Proving Ground’s extensive facilities in secluded Bedfordshire are expected to be vital to its new owner, details of which will be revealed later this year.

For the utmost secrecy of any clandestine comings and goings of both engines and new vehicles can be assured at a site which is ideally screened from prying eyes.

Meanwhile, the seemingly endless and painstaking process of due diligence is currently unfolding at Millbrook as accountants and lawyers probe the minutiae of accounts, paper trails and business practices. But also under scrutiny are the site’s security processes.

GM to invest €240 million in testing

Proof that the Millbrook’s Proving Ground’s days are drawing to a close as a permanent General Motors (GM) test facility come with the news that GM will invest €230 million for new testing facilities at its European Product Development Centre at the Opel headquarters in Rüsselsheim and at the proving ground in Dudenhofen.

Rumours have persisted for some time that the famous Millbrook facility in Bedfordshire, UK is to change hands; indeed, it is understood that an announcement only awaits the completion of the lengthy process if due diligence. JaguarLandRover is among companies whose names have been mentioned in connection with this acquisition.

As GM’s investment will be executed in the next three to four years it is to be assumed that GM will continue to hire some of Millbrook’s facilities, including possibly the important test tracks and engineering resources.