OPEL-Vauxhall the perennially loss-making carmaker bought by Peugeot owner PSA last year, has swung to its first profit in nearly 20 years.

The car manufacturer logged £447m in operating profit in the six months to June 30.

That is compared to the £229million loss reporting for full year 2016, the last full year that the company was still owned by General Motors.

It also marks the first profit logged by the business since 1999.

The company has laid out ambitious savings targets, which chief executive Carlos Tavares said the group has to implement to survive.

Vauxhall announced in January plans to slash a further 250 jobs at its Ellesmere Port factory, adding to 400 staff cuts confirmed in October.

It was meant to boost productivity at the Cheshire-based plant by moving to a single production shift from April this year.

This has also had an impact on the network of Vauxhall dealers across the UK, with some being forced to slash costs and lay-off staff.

The experience for North-East motor trader Sherwoods has, however, been more positive, although managing director Simon MacConachie, admitted that the change of ownership had brought new challenges.

He said: “When I spoke to the Echo earlier in the year I mentioned that we had really bounced back from a difficult 2017 with a superb quarter one result.

“This has not been the case for everyone in the Vauxhall network and indeed other manufacturers and dealers are seeing really challenging times. I’m glad to say for Sherwoods the results have remained strong since April and we continue to hold new car market share locally above the national average at the half year point. It hasn’t been easy.

“There have been lots of changes and challenges with PSA whilst they adjust the Vauxhall business into profit. They have transferred some of their costs to us in the dealer network which is one more obstacle we have had to overcome.

"I’m sure they are not done yet with their changes but we have a very strong team across all the three sites and we have proved our agility at adapting quickly where we need to in order to make the most of every opportunity.

“Sherwoods outlook for the year is very positive indeed and are bullish about putting in a really strong year end result that very much defies the doom and gloom out there with the reduced car market and the impact of Brexit.”

PSA, which owns Peugeot and Citroen, agreed to buy the loss-making European arm of General Motors (GM) last year, which included the Vauxhall brand.

The move secured GM's exit from the UK and Europe while transforming PSA into Europe's second-largest car maker.

About 30,000 people work across the Vauxhall brand, though that figure includes the dealership network, where some staff are not directly employed by the company.