Will Vauxhall ever rebrand as Opel in the U.K.?

[englisharcher]

Can you ever see a time when Vauxhall would be rebranded?

And do you think a rebranding would help the company?

[matt-ITR]

They still make some of the best selling cars in the UK, so I doubt they would change unless the sales figures really drop on the key models.

[daemon]

matt-ITR said:

They still make some of the best selling cars in the UK, so I doubt they would change unless the sales figures really drop on the key models.

?

You think changing the brand to opel would help sales?

[300bhp/ton]

englisharcher said:

Can you ever see a time when Vauxhall would be rebranded?

And do you think a rebranding would help the company?

Well GM has owned Vauxhall since 1925 and not felt the need to rebrand it so far.

And no, why would it help? Opel's used to be sold in the UK anyhow.

[kambites]

I've occasionally wondered this but I can't see them bothering unless they get into serious trouble in the UK market. Vauxhalls still seem to be selling well, so why would they change anything?

[folos]

It might work, everyone loves a German car

[BigBen]

I thought Opel had been rebranded to Starburst.

[Rex Ironstone]

I don't really know the details but Opel have recently started selling in Oz. The advertising is making it very clear they are German to differentiate between the previous Holden/Daewoos.

[The Boosh]

They're consistently in the top 3 marques in terms of market share. I don't think they will feel the need to rebrand the business anytime soon.

[benjfrst]

The only reason that it is Vauxhall in the UK as it is thought the brand is strong and Opel to weak.

Why go to all that trouble to keep the Vauxhall brand if they didnt think it a benefit.

Vauxhall's have just been rebadged Opel's since the 80's.

So no I dont think it will help.

[GuitarTech]

I think that in the long term, both Opel and Vauxhall will dissapear from the market. I think GM's world master plan is to replace them both with Chevrolet as a European brand.
At any rate, here in Germany, Opel is going down the tube, and GM is spending huge amounts of money to place Chevrolet on the market here.
To digress a bit, as an Englishman it makes my teeth ache when the Germans pronounce "Chevrolet" with a "t" on the end

[300bhp/ton]

GuitarTech said:

I think that in the long term, both Opel and Vauxhall will dissapear from the market. I think GM's world master plan is to replace them both with Chevrolet as a European brand.
At any rate, here in Germany, Opel is going down the tube, and GM is spending huge amounts of money to place Chevrolet on the market here.
To digress a bit, as an Englishman it makes my teeth ache when the Germans pronounce "Chevrolet" with a "t" on the end

As said above GM bought Vauxhall in 1925, so in the past 88 years they haven't felt the need to re-brand them. So what sort of time scales are you thinking of?

[GC8]

benjfrst said:

The only reason that it is Vauxhall in the UK as it is thought the brand is strong and Opel to weak.

Why go to all that trouble to keep the Vauxhall brand if they didnt think it a benefit.

Vauxhall's have just been rebadged Opel's since the 80's.

So no I dont think it will help.

1970s! The Chevette and Cavalier were facelisted Kadette and Asconas. The last 'Vauxhall' might have been the HC Viva, which wasnt great...

[GuitarTech]

300bhp/ton said:

GuitarTech said:

I think that in the long term, both Opel and Vauxhall will dissapear from the market. I think GM's world master plan is to replace them both with Chevrolet as a European brand.
At any rate, here in Germany, Opel is going down the tube, and GM is spending huge amounts of money to place Chevrolet on the market here.
To digress a bit, as an Englishman it makes my teeth ache when the Germans pronounce "Chevrolet" with a "t" on the end

As said above GM bought Vauxhall in 1925, so in the past 88 years they haven't felt the need to re-brand them. So what sort of time scales are you thinking of?

Within the next 10 years, sooner if they manage to kill Opel Russelsheim (Opel Bochum is already on the kill list, Opel doesn't have a factory anywhere that isn't losing money)

[matt-ITR]

daemon said:

?

You think changing the brand to opel would help sales?

It would be a major re-branding exercise if they did. The vast majority of people don't know what Opel is, so its effectively a clean slate.
Can't see it happening though.

[300bhp/ton]

matt-ITR said:

It would be a major re-branding exercise if they did. The vast majority of people don't know what Opel is, so its effectively a clean slate.
Can't see it happening though.

Would that vast majority only be people who are 15 years or younger? Or those that have never been to mainland Europe or read a single car magazine/website?

[vrooom]

If they change the badges/brand etc, I still wouldnt buy it.

[droopsnoot]

GC8 said:

1970s! The Chevette and Cavalier were facelisted Kadette and Asconas. The last 'Vauxhall' might have been the HC Viva, which wasnt great...

Although at least they went to the trouble of facelifting them with a different front end and different drivetrain in some - not just changing the badges like now. The Viva HC was the last UK design for Vauxhall that went into production.

[Ozzie Osmond]

In a word, no.

But they are doing splendidly well with Chevrolet. Used to refer to big American V8s but now refers to "scrofulous little yoghurt pots" from the Far East ...

(Acknowledgement to Pigeon c.2008 for the words in "-".)

[benjfrst]

droopsnoot said:

GC8 said:

1970s! The Chevette and Cavalier were facelisted Kadette and Asconas. The last 'Vauxhall' might have been the HC Viva, which wasnt great...

Although at least they went to the trouble of facelifting them with a different front end and different drivetrain in some - not just changing the badges like now. The Viva HC was the last UK design for Vauxhall that went into production.

That is what I mean, since the 80's it has been grill / badge replacement, now even the grilles are the same as the Vauxhall badge is round and the same size as the Opel one.

Before then there was a little more involvement.

So the only cost to change to Opel is to change the brand name, literature and dealer network etc nothing physical to the cars. So there must be some milage in keeping it Vauxhall for them in the UK as they changed it to Opel in Ireland, New Zealand etc ages ago.