Brit-built Astras to stay

General Motors has confirmed that the next-generation Vauxhall/Opel Astra will be built in the UK.

GM's new 'family' of compact cars - to include the Astra, upcoming Saab 9-2 and a Saturn-badged model to go to North America - is scheduled for 2010, and will be made by Vauxhall's 2,200 employees at their Ellesmere Port plant in Cheshire, as well as at plants in Germany, Poland and Sweden.

However, production at GM's plant in Antwerp, which currently makes Astra variants including the estate and coupe-convertible, will be discontinued. Around 1,400 people will lose their jobs in Antwerp this year as Astra production is wound down.