THE financial situation at Sudbury-based automotive industry firm Delphi, which led to the offer of redundancy packages to 730 staff, is ‘temporary’ according to a spokesman for the company.

Yesterday, the EADT revealed that Delphi was asking for workers at its Newton Road site to take voluntary redundancy. A concerned member of staff said other options offered included taking three months off with 30% pay, or going part-time. The company is also believed to have cut back on the use of agency staff.

Last night, a Delphi spokesman confirmed there had been a reduction in the volume of orders for products currently manufactured at the Sudbury plant, and that the company was adjusting its capacity accordingly.

He said: “We believe this (situation) is only temporary and remain committed to our substantial investment in this site as we prepare to introduce important new production contracts.

“To help us through this short term challenge, we have offered a range of voluntary schemes for those employees who would like to take this opportunity to either work fewer hours or to move on to other opportunities.”

He said the number of people who would leave the company would depend the how many applications were received.

Delphi is a leading global supplier of electronics and technologies for the automotive industry. In addition to its Sudbury plant, it has major technical centres, manufacturing sites and customer support facilities in 30 countries worldwide.