In a major boost for the town, Luton will begin production of new electric models next year for the entire range of Stellantis medium vans sold in the UK.
The plant will mostly be producing right-hand-drive versions of the Stellantis range of vans that include the Vauxhall Vivaro Electric, Peugeot E-Expert, Citroën ë-Dispatch and Fiat Professional E-Scudo. However, the site will also be used to produce some left-hand-drive versions of the same models for export as well as the Opel Vivaro Electric.
Production will begin in the first half of 2025 in limited numbers, and the electric vans will be produced alongside their internal combustion engine counterparts.
Luton joins Ellesmere Port as the second electric model manufacturing site for Stellantis vans in the UK.
Ellesmere Port was announced as the manufacturing site for all versions of the Citroen e-Berlingo, Peugeot e-Partner, Fiat e-Doblo and Vauxhall Combo Electric in September last year, following a £100m investment to transform the plant for EV production. It is also became the first Stellantis plant globally to be dedicated to electric vehicle manufacturing.
Stellantis is currently the best-selling van manufacturer in Europe with a 30.4% market share in 2023. Their electric vehicles also have a 38.8% of the European market, while in the UK that figure rises to 47.9%. Vauxhall was the best-selling electric van manufacturer with 6,402 sales out of Stellantis' total UK sales of 10,272 vans. The majority of Vauxhall's electric van sales were for the Vivaro Electric as the number one electric van in the UK.
Vauxhall's Luton plant began life in 1905 and have been producing the Vivaro van since 2001. When Stellantis acquired Vauxhall and production was switched over from producing Renault-based vans to the Peugeot-Citroen model, the plant also took on group production of medium-sized vans, adding the Fiat Scudo in 2022.
Mark Noble, Luton Plant Director & Stellantis UK Manufacturing Lead, said: “Following the transformation of our Ellesmere Port facility to produce all-electric compact vans, I’m pleased to announce that we will commence limited production of our medium electric van in Luton from next year, when the first customer vehicles will roll off the production line. This is a fitting way to mark Luton’s 120th anniversary.”
Luton produced more than 90,000 vans last year, all of which were ICE models.
