“Vauxhall. A British brand since 1903” – how this great brand story tricks and deceives so many.“

“Vauxhall. A British brand since 1903”. How true is this statement? The short answer is, it is very true. Vauxhall is a British brand and it has been since 1903. This cannot be denied and there is huge brand loyalty associated with Vauxhall here in the UK. Indeed, in 2021, the Vauxhall Corsa is the most popular vehicle in the UK with over 16,000 registrations up to May alone... and there is a long history of this success. But, is Vauxhall truly ‘British’? What cars do they make here? Let’s look at some facts:

1903: Vauxhall Motors is established.

1905: Vauxhall moves its manufacturing plant to Luton, Bedfordshire.

1925: Vauxhall is sold to American car giants, General Motors (GM) – and Chevrolet based design and engineering is slowly introduced into the vehicle range.

1950: Vehicles are still being designed in Luton, but they draw a lot of influence from developments from other brands in the USA – namely, Chevrolet.

1962: Ellesmere Port factory is established.

1963: The Vauxhall Viva production commences – and the German version of the car is sold as the Opel Kadett.

1972: The FE Series Victor is launched. This is the last all-British Vauxhall. Vauxhall retains its two British factories at Luton and Ellesmere Port and most of the cars wearing the Vauxhall badge are still being built in the UK.

1975: The re-styled Opel Kadett and Ascona are marketed in the UK as the Vauxhall Chevette and Cavalier respectively. Virtually all future Vauxhalls would be lightly restyled Opels.

1978: Vauxhall Introduced the all-new Carlton saloon and estate – these are facelifted versions of the German-built Opel Rekord.

1983: The Nova supermini is launched – a rebadged version of the Spanish-built Opel Corsa. It was solely built at the Zaragoza plant in Spain. The Vauxhall Senator is launched. A vehicle that had been around since 1979 – but badged as an Opel.

It is around this period that Opel-built cars were increasingly being built around Europe and exported into the UK badged as Vauxhalls. There were no Vauxhall-built cars being exported as Opels – and it would remain like this until 1990. Similarly, the Opel brand in the UK market was being trimmed to sporting models only – namely, the Opel Manta (1984 to 1988) until finally, Opel models were no longer imported to the UK.

In 1989/90, I began a contract as a consultant with Vauxhall working with the brand consultants, Wolff Olins, on the Vauxhall/Opel brand separation. My role (and that of my company) being to support the Vauxhall brand team to deliver a stronger and more robust identity for Vauxhall franchises – ensuring that the cohesive narrative that inspired the desired emotional reaction with the public was maintained.

2000: Vauxhall announced that car production at its Luton plant would cease in 2002.

2002: The Vectra B replacement and the Astra are the only vehicles produced in the UK at the Ellesmere Port factory.

2009: Vauxhall and Opel are spun off into a separate company as the parent company, GM, filed for bankruptcy in the USA. The sale of Vauxhall and Opel was being negotiated by the German government in an attempt to protect the businesses from any General Motors asset liquidation. A sale to Canadian-owned Magna International was agreed with the approval of the German government – but shortly afterwards, the GM board called the deal off concluding that Opel and Vauxhall Motors were crucial to GM's global strategy.

2017: GM reached an agreement with Groupe PSA (Peugeot/Citroen) for the acquisition of the Vauxhall and Opel brands and the complete Vauxhall/Opel automobile business.

2021: Groupe PSA and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles merge to form Stellantis – a Dutch multinational automotive manufacturer who include the following brands in their portfolio:

• Abarth

• Alfa Romeo

• Chrysler

• Citroën

• Dodge

• DS

• Fiat

• Fiat Professional

• Jeep

• Lancia

• Maserati

• Mopar

• Opel

• Peugeot

• Ram

• Vauxhall

So, ‘yes’, Vauxhall has been a British brand since 1903. But the facts are:

• Vauxhall has not been British owned since 1925

• Since 1925, Vauxhall has been American, French and is currently Dutch owned

• Vauxhall has not designed a vehicle since the early 1970’s

• The Vauxhall range has been, effectively, rebadged Opels since the 1980’s

... And today:

• Vauxhall's vehicle lineup is identical to that of Opel

• The Vauxhall brand is exclusive to the UK (Great Britain and Northern Ireland), the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man – and is not available anywhere else in the world

• Apart from the Astra, the entire Vauxhall range is not even built in the UK

Because of my time working in the automotive industry, I am often asked for my opinion on particular brands. When the topic of Vauxhall is brought up, I summarise their story as I have done here – and it raises eyebrows. This is largely because there is a ‘British’ assumption that Vauxhall is a global automotive brand; it designs and builds its own vehicles; sells them around the world as other brands. The truth is quite the reverse!

Here are a few of my recollections:

• Working in Qatar in the early 2000’s, a car was sent to collect me from the hotel – a Chevrolet Caprice. It made me smile – we in the UK would know it as the Vauxhall Omega. A British colleague commented, "Wow... Vauxhall are exporting their cars to the middle east and badging them as Chevrolets".

• About ten years ago, someone asked me what good SUVs were in the market. I suggested the Chevrolet Captiva. The response was “Oh the cheap Vauxhall”. “No.” I replied. “The Vauxhall is an expensive Chevrolet”.

• Only recently, someone commented, “I’ve seen the Opel Corsa in Spain. I just thought it was a cheaper version of a Vauxhall that we exported”. I commented, “Close... but quite not quite right. The Corsa is built in Spain. They have been built in a few other places around the world – but they've never been built in the UK. You are right, however, in that the Opel Corsa is cheaper. We pay extra for the Vauxhall badge to be put on it here in the UK”.

… and that is the value of the Vauxhall brand marketing team here in the UK! Over the years, they have sourced great talent – in both headcount and agencies – who have created and built a cohesive narrative that has endured and built great brand loyalty. This is coupled with the fact that they are great cars; it is a great company – just not as British as you might be led to believe.