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The slow death of Vauxhall?


Felly Magic

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Well it seems that Vauxhall HQ are blaming the dealers for freefalling sales, it couldn't have anything to do with a lacklustre product range perhaps? Sales down a shocking 20%, GM did this to dealers in Australia, and there the brand is all but dead.

 

Sacking off a staggering 33% of dealers is clearly not good for the brand, and it will give the already tarnished brand an even worse reputation.

 

I had a gut feeling this was on the cards, and I bet the staff at Ellesmere Port are shitting themselves

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Dosen’t quite fit with the investment in Luton to build the next Vivaro, but I guess they can always just build Pug vans there instead.

 

I strongly suspect the government will pay to keep EP going for as long as PSA are happy to take the money.

 

A new Corsa that isn’t just a goofy grin and bunch of new panels added to the 2006 model would probably help too.

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Dosen’t quite fit with the investment in Luton to build the next Vivaro, but I guess they can always just build Pug vans there instead.

I strongly suspect the government will pay to keep EP going for as long as PSA are happy to take the money.

A new Corsa that isn’t just a goofy grin and bunch of new panels added to the 2006 model would probably help too.

The vans coming out of Luton are already badged as Nissan, Renault, Opel and Vauxhall, binning the Griffins and sticking Lions on them isnt going to be that much of a stretch.
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We have a new neighbour who has bought the massive barn conversion and runs out in the evenings on a Goldwing.

 

During the OMGSNOKAOS! we were mightily amused to see him and his partner get into a 67-plate Insignia and attempt to boot it up the (considerably sloped) drive and fail miserably four times.  Until finally realising that going full Clarkson wasn't going to work.

 

The next week he had one of the new Crossland horrors.  How I hate those things.

 

Turns out he's a regional manager for Vauxhall.

 

If Vauxhall really is in the shit, I don't think I'll be hearing the Goldwing quite as often...

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Even as one of the very few Vauxhall apologists on here, I think the brand is wandering in a motorised wilderness.

 

Within the modifying fold, enthusiasts strive to 'Opelise' their cars, myself included.

 

Unfortunately I think the UK has been adrift a sea of only Peugeot/Citroen, German and Japanese cars for many years.

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This has direct echos of what is going on down under though, give it another couple of years and the Holden brand will be dead, and to be honest, I think Vauxhall will soon follow, it doesn't make sense having a brand for one very small and shrinking market

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Even as one of the very few Vauxhall apologists on here, I think the brand is wandering in a motorised wilderness.

 

Within the modifying fold, enthusiasts strive to 'Opelise' their cars, myself included.

 

Unfortunately I think the UK has been adrift a sea of only Peugeot/Citroen, German and Japanese cars for many years.

 

What do you think has gone wrong for them?

 

I wouldn't ever consider one but that's due to an impression of mediocre build quality, cheap interiors and uncomfortable seats (my partner has confirmed the latter when she drove a service Insignia in the Reserves).  I might be missing out on some cracking cars but I've just never seen them as a viable option, going back to when I was a kid.

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I was in our local Vauxhall Dealership today collecting a Vivaro from a service.  For all the statements of lacklustre cars I think the new Insignia is the best looking Vauxhall since the Calibra and better looking than any Mondeo since the mk1.  That might be because I think it was styled as the Buick Regal with a few very subtle styling clues from the 70's models.

 

The dealership is also a Suzuki dealership and approved Ford service centre.  I wonder what they will take on if Vauxhall go?  Peugeot would be very handy with our fleet but unlikely with another (shit) dealer nearby.

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But aren't they 2WD only? He needs a Mokka X to get 4WD  :-D

 

This the same guy that gave an Insignia a bootful with 1/2" of ice and 3" of snow on a long, sloped driveway.

 

The best bit of driving I've ever seen on that slope was a Polo that got stuck there last year in some snow.  They had to reverse it at full speed and J-turn it into the road.  Spectacular.

 

My hatred of Crosslands comes largely from a certain individual I know that bought one recently...

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In the past I have had a Brabham Viva HB - the most unreliable car of all those I have owned,

a Calibra which was very nice until it was seriously modified by a twat on the phone in a Galaxy

which was replaced by an L reg Astra 1.4 which was always willing but died two days after I sold it so I gave the guy his money back and actually got more from a breaker.

I always thought they were well styled Ford alternatives. 

The fact that Vauxhall head office are blaming dealers for not being able to sell an inferior product nowadays is hardly fair. Do they even do a hybrid?

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What do you think has gone wrong for them?

 

I wouldn't ever consider one but that's due to an impression of mediocre build quality, cheap interiors and uncomfortable seats (my partner has confirmed the latter when she drove a service Insignia in the Reserves). I might be missing out on some cracking cars but I've just never seen them as a viable option, going back to when I was a kid.

I have owned 4 Vauxhalls, the current 2 I have owned for 13 and 8 years and mum is on her third Corsa. The build quality has been excellent on them all. Materials used are hard wearing (except the leather seats on 00's 'sporty' models). I have never had any issues with comfort nor has my mum (who is nearly 70).

 

Compare a Corsa B with a Fiesta MK3. The former was more stylish, had more rear legroom and had more up to date ohc engines, plus a Turbodiesel. The GSi looked just right for the time, Ford no longer had a comparable car.

 

Fast forward to now and I think its just a case of better alternatives being available.

 

As always, its seen as cool and trendy on here to despise them.

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I'm quite fond of a late Cavalier but then I saw a lot of them as a kid.  They were a mainstay of my town, having a large Vauxhall dealer.  Lived over the road from a Vauxhall main dealer for 3 years and never saw many people in there.  Only a transporter every few weeks swapping the stock over.

 

I've always thought the Mk 1 Insignias were well styled, with the exception of the bottom of the rear.  Suddenly you can see the underside of the car and the exhaust pipes.  Shame because otherwise it's quite shapely, although the rest position of the rear wiper bothers me in a way I can't quite put my finger on.  The new Insignias look a bit too aggressive for my taste.

 

Sorry for the downer!

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Probably to do with the fact that their corsa was shite and if that is one of the most popular first cars as it tends to be in Britain., you'd hardly rush out to buy anything else from vauxhall after having suffered one of those. They just need to relaunch the boxy nova, there we go, i've solved all their issues in one fell swoop. Just send me the cheque.

 

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The new Corsa is 12 years old...

Is the new corsa really 12 years old?!!

 

What's happened to the Adam?!

 

Insignia are actually a decent looking yoke New astra diesels are very very competent cars. Very quick and reliable to a fault...

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Is the new corsa really 12 years old?

Corsa E (2014–present)

 

All of the exterior sheet metal (except the roof) has been revised, but the underlying chassis and body structure (especially the glasshouse) is carried over from Corsa D.

 

Corsa D 2006-2014

 

Technically the platform is from the 2005 Grande Punto.

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our town does not have a main  car dealer at all , not one , the last to go was Ford , Fiat and Vauxhall led the way .. nearest dealer is up in Ainsdale which I would not use even if I had the money and it was the last dealer in the world .

 

as I have said , I have owned my last Vauxhall , the Fiats went balls up years ago , most of this is down to shoddy goods that are difficult to repair in later life coupled with poor dealer attitudes .

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Zero stars by Euro NCAP by the looks of things for the 2017 Punto.  In a strange way, that's quite remarkable.

 

https://www.euroncap.com/en/results/fiat/punto/29849

 

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/fiat/punto/102055/fiat-punto-scores-first-ever-zero-star-euro-ncap-safety-rating

 

then you read past the headline slightly and realise how ridiculous that rating is, they de-rated it from 5 stars to 0 stars because it didn't have side airbags or that fancy self braking radar stuff that a lot of cars now have. In other words in real world terms it's not a zero star car...that would be something like a 1950s morris minor, with no airbags at all, no abs, no traction control, non laminated windscreen. It's probably more like a 3 star car.

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Having had the old insignia as a company car I can say it’s not bad, at least not when they’re new. The new insignia looks quite nice too and I’m sure it drives adequately. The trouble is they’re not the sort of car you aspire to, you’d never buy one with your own money, you settle for them as a company car or hire car.

 

I wonder whether lack lustre sales is the reason they’ve decided to start putting “Turbo” badges on everything like it’s the 80’s all over again. Of course it has a fucking Turbo, just like every other diesel since 1988.

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Vauxhall aside, I'd like to see a far wider dismissal and restructuring of franchised dealers, because very few of them are genuinely run with the manufacturers interests at heart. Although there are a few sparkling independents, the vast majority belong to huge organisations, each of which have so many layers of management and shareholders to satisfy that the intake of cash takes precedent over everything else, and the shop floor is run ragged.

 

Pretty sure this is why it's rare to expect a customer experience any more enjoyable than you'll get in Halfords, whether you're buying a car or having one serviced.

 

Vauxhall has the added gloom of a non-aspirational image, but there are plenty of Audi, BMW and Merc dealers that are a blight on the brand's name.

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