Falling van sales across Europe mean that the UK’s two largest van factories are cutting back on manpower.

Ford has taken the difficult decision to cut 500 jobs at its Southampton factory. The plant, which makes the Transit van, as recently moved from running a double day shift to a single day shift, but as I reported here the company’s original intention was to manage this transition by cutting working hours, rather than jobs. Perhaps this was always a little too optimistic…

Ford are struggling with falling global sales – last year, the Southampton factory only produced 66,000 Transits – against almost 75,000 in 2007. This year’s total may be even lower – with export markets all over Europe suffering a downturn.

Vauxhall are also experiencing falling demand for their hugely-popular Vivaro van. Workers at the GM plant in Luton, where the vans are made, have had their working hours cut from 38 to 34 hours per week, although no job losses have been announced as yet.