Vauxhall. Should GM kill the name???

[warren t claim]

Is there any advantage to keeping the badge alive just for the UK market? Should they re badge as Opel or maybe they should of done that years ago?

[Cavcraft]

No. Bleeding. Way.They do have a good name amongst (most of) those who own and are a 'known brand'.Yeah it's no big deal in the general scheme of things if they get called Opel but people will then see them as a 'European*' car as opposed to British and I suspect GM know this.*Which they obviously are of course.

[Milford Cubicle]

Renaming Vauxhall would only confuse the ill-informed people who buy them.

[dollywobbler]

Not so sure. I think the name has been slowly dying since the Seventies. What's a British car anyway? A Nissan Cash-and-carry is more British than a lot of cars. Mind you, some people still think Ford are British, even when their little supermini is built in Spain by an American company...Don't get me wrong, I'd be gutted if they ditched the name, but I can also see that it would be a sensible move. After all, only the Astra (the last link to Vauxhall in name) is built here anyway.

[warren t claim]

I think they should of decided to call the Vectra replacement the Ascona instead of the Insignia.

[Father Ted]

It was a very sad day when Marathon became snickers. Dont do this to Vauxhall.

[Milford Cubicle]

I think they should of decided to call the Vectra replacement the Ascona instead of the Insignia.

Surely the 'Diplomat'?

It's almost the same length as one.

 

[warren t claim]

^^^^^^ No chance. Diplomat doesn't end with an "A".

[Milford Cubicle]

Diplomatia.

[dollywobbler]

Diplomatia.

Sounds a bit too close to The All New Opel Dementia!

[VWPowered]

it would be a shame to see the vauxhall name killed off certainly as its the name they were using before they even made cars or even to luton...as its now left luton its not quiet the same..

[Guest]

I see enough Corsas and Astras on the road, I don't think it's much of a problem for them to knock up a few griffin badges.

[Rusty Pelican]

My 51 plate Pox-all Ashtray has Opel stickers all over the place , its got an ID crisis anyway

[Lankytim]

It would be a great shame if the dropped the Vauxhall name but do you think they really care over in Germany? Surely it would streamline everything to standardise on the Opel brand.Or maybe they should ditch Opel and badge everything Vauxhall. I can see Vauxhall going eventually, it goes hand in hand with the steady dismantling of the British identity which has been going on over the past few decades. Its not a case of a British or German brand name, its all EU now!*sits down with copy of the Daily Mail and a mug of Horlicks*

[AnthonyG]

This isn't going to happen, particularly now that Nick Reilly (who used to run Vauxhall) is now in charge of GM Europe. He defended the brand quite well when he ran it, although he did have to front the decision to shut down car assembly at Luton. He is quite a geniune guy for a car company exec, and is actually interested in manufacturing, unlike most. He started out as a lawyer or accountant (I forget which), found it boring, and went to work as a engineer - its normally the other way around.Remember Vauxhall has a much higher share of the UK than Opel has in the German market. Opel has a marginal reputation in Germany now anyway, its not like BMW or even VW. Its also been downgraded as a brand in GM's global plans, witness the use of Chevrolet as opposed to Opel in markets such as Russia, Asia etc.They could have just as easily rebranded Daewoos as Opels but they didn't.

[Torsten2001]

I don't know why they don't just give Vauxhall a bit of independence in a Holden stylee, give it a proper image

[AXrescuer]

Renaming Vauxhall would only confuse the ill-informed people who buy them.

In your opinion. So, there must be a lot of ill informed people out there eh? Pray tell what gives you a better insight into the marque than the rest of us mere mortals?

[Station]

I think the modern day Vauxhall is a shadow of it's former self, I like Vauxhall, but there's no chance I'd ever buy the silver bland stuff they've produced since the mk4 Astra.

[Cavcraft]

I would matey. Love the Mk4 Astra and still want a Vectra C and they (Vauxhall) do have an uncanny knack of making popular, reliable cars.Axrescuer: right on bro!

[Albert Ross]

I work for a Vauxhall dealer, and the new Astra appears quite nice in the flesh....... however, it better be good as a car if Vauxhall is to survive, A car by any other name would still fuck up at the side of the M1 in the pissing rain at 03:30 on a Sunday............. It's a last chance for Vauxhall methinks. Astra, we're depending on you, let us down and I'm out of work.

[stormee]

Interesting topic! What you don't know is that it became a fashion among Opel drivers in Germany to rebadge their cars as Vauxhalls and even replace the Opel grille with a Vauxhall one!And the V-shaped Vauxhall grill looks definately better than the Opel one.

[Milford Cubicle]

Renaming Vauxhall would only confuse the ill-informed people who buy them.

In your opinion. So, there must be a lot of ill informed people out there eh? Pray tell what gives you a better insight into the marque than the rest of us mere mortals?

I'm not having a go really, I just think Vauxhall is the first stop car for people who don't know much or anything about cars. I feel the same way about Fords.It doesn't mean I don't like any of them.

[STUNO]

In my part of the world the boss of GM in NZ decreed that ALL GM products sold here, and we are a very small market, would be badged as Holden. No cars are made here, so wherever they are built the badges are put on on the assembly line. End of problem.You have already been getting Holden Aust cars badged as Vauxhall.The only departure from this has been the recent import of some Cadillacs which kept their name.

[warren t claim]

A few years ago I had a late mk2 Cav GL with optional alloys that had "Vauxhall" moulded into the wheels themselves, not just the centre caps. I admire Vauxhall for tooling up just for a set of wheels for the UK market, particuarly as they probably only sold about 100 sets.