Vauxhall has redesigned its griffin badge – and the new Insignia is the first car that will bear the new mascot. It’s a typically modern rebranding:
the graphic designers have zoomed in on the upper torso of the griffin, giving it a sharper, modern look and the word Vauxhall is now incorporated in the badge.
The company’s grille-wide V front end will be abandoned, the new grille preferring an Opel-style roundel, enlarged and sitting slap bang in the middle of the grille. It’s not all change, however. The griffin still grasps hold of the V pendant.
New Vauxhall badge: the design rationale
GM’s head of design in Europe, Mark Adams, says the rebranding is designed to echo the fresh direction of Vauxhall/Opel’s cars. ‘It reflects the new found confidence we feel the brand is showing… it hasn’t changed much since the 1980s and 1990s and the actual emblem itself needed to change.’
There’s the usual designerspeak too, of course. ‘The rounded shape of the new badge reflects the sculptural artistry of our brand; the sharper, technical lines reflect our German precision.’ Yes quite.
Click ‘Next’ to find out which cars will be getting the new Vauxhall badge firstThe new Insignia – being unveiled later this month – will be the first car to wear Vauxhall’s new badge, and it will then trickle down to the whole range ‘within two to three years’, according to Adams. Every new model will receive the new branding, while facelifted models will keep up the momentum.
‘With today’s V-grille, the badge is apologetic,’ said Adams. ‘We wanted to make the emblem much stronger. It will be more integrated on all future Vauxhalls.’
The Insignia won’t be shown in public until its world premiere at the 2008 London motor show in July – and that’s when dealerships, corporate letterheads and the like will be given a makeover. Fittingly, Vauxhall’s HQ at Griffin House in Luton will be among the first to be rebranded in July.
Vauxhall griffin badge: the history bit
The griffin has been used on Vauxhall badges since the early part of the twentieth century. Its roots can be found in heraldic emblems – a griffin, king of the mythical beasts – that hung in the house on the site of the Vauxhall Ironworks in Lambeth, south London. It made its first car in 1903, moved to Luton in 1905 and was renamed Vauxhall Motors in 1907.
Brilliant rebranding? Or shades of BA’s 1990s redesign? Sound off by clicking ‘Add your comment’ below