AFTER an absence of 20 years, General Motors' engineering development for vans and recreational vehicles has moved back to the UK, with the official opening of a new facility at Millbrook Technology Park, Bedfordshire.

More than 70 international purchasing, aftersales and product and process engineering staff have moved into the Vauxhall Engineering Centre, in which GM has invested £5 million.

The centre is part of GM's global network and will share engineering with Opel's international technical development centre in Germany. Its opening comes two weeks after GM announced £189 million of investment in its production sites at Luton and Ellesmere Port.

One of the first tasks for the centre is development work on a new light medium van, X38, in conjunction with Renault. The Arena replacement will be built at GM's IBC plant in Luton and launched next summer.