The last British-built Vauxhall Astra has left the firm’s Ellesmere Port facility as the plant retools to create electric vehicles in 2023. 

The final Astra ends a run that has seen more than four million examples produced since 1981, with the last model being an Astra Sport Tourer SRi Nav. 

Though British-built up until this point, the next-generation Astra will no longer be made in Ellesmere Port and will instead be produced at Opel’s Rüsselsheim site in Germany.

Now, the Stellantis Group - which owns Vauxhall - is investing £100 million into Ellesmere Port in order to transform it into an electric vehicle-only production site. 

The move forms part of Vauxhall’s commitment to becoming an electric-only brand by 2028 and is a key component of the Stellantis Group’s plan to become carbon-neutral worldwide by 2038.  

Paul Willcox, managing director of Vauxhall and senior vice-president at Stellantis, said: “Over the last 60 years, Ellesmere Port has become one of the great British car plants, producing some of the most popular cars on the roads across generations.

“With one era closing, we’re now looking forward to an all-new electric era at Ellesmere, with the site becoming the first Stellantis plant to produce solely electric vehicles. Vauxhall is fast moving towards an electric future and I’m pleased to see the next-generation of Vauxhall electric vehicles made in Britain.”

Since the start of production in 1962, Ellesmere Port has made more than 5.2 million vehicles. When it reopens, it will start manufacturing the Vauxhall Combo-e and its Opel-badged equivalent vans, as well as the Peugeot e-Partner and Citroen e-Berlingo.

The factory will be refitted to make the e-Combo