Search: Vauxhall ownership
Union leaders have voiced concerns about the prospect of UK car manufacturer Vauxhall coming under new ownership, warning the business could be "given away" under plans to create a European car giant.
Vauxhall employs more than 5,000 workers in the UK at two sites.
It forms part of the European business of ailing US giant General Motors, which is being eyed by Italian manufacturer Fiat.
Fiat is assessing the possibility of merging its own car-making operations with GM's European arm and its 20% interest in manufacturer Chrysler, which entered bankruptcy protection in the US last week.
This would create a car giant with around 80 billion euro (£71 billion) in annual revenues, the firm said. About 1,200 employees are based at Luton and 2,500 at Ellesmere Port with the rest at dealerships across the UK.
Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of the Unite union, said: "These proposals are not so much a sale as a giveaway.
"Fiat has struggled for years to get back into profit and now they want to swallow two elephants, GM Europe and Chrysler, simultaneously.
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"Inevitably, plants will be reduced across the EU if this takeover goes ahead and there are real questions over what this will mean for UK plants where Fiat already owns similar operations. Quite frankly this move sends shivers down my spine.
"In a perfect world GM Europe should stay part of the global GM family but if that is not to be the case then my preferred solution is that our Government, in concert with the German and Spanish governments, takes some ownership which would stabilise the industry.
"If our Government is serious about manufacturing, as it says it is, and serious about ensuring manufacturing will be key to seeing this country out of the recession, then I urge them to do the sensible thing and act to protect our plants."
