Rootes Group
Production at the plant ceased on 12 December 2006. It marked the end of nearly 60 years of car manufacturing at Ryton, and severed the motor industry's final remaining direct link with the Rootes Group. More than 2,000 jobs were lost as a result of the factory's closure. It was demolished soon after. The only physical remnant of the Rootes Group still in existence is the Whitley research and development centre - originally established during the Chrysler era, but subsequently sold by PSA and is now owned by Jaguar Land Rover.