I am very pleased that General Motors has changed its mind and kept Vauxhall and Opel, and not just because it annoys the German government.
The proposed sale to a Russian-Canadian consortium would, in due course, have created a Russian General Motorski. Long term, I suspect there would have been no jobs left in Ellesmere Port, Luton, Russelsheim or anywhere else west of Poland.
But now that the General has ridden to the rescue, what does this one-time bankrupt car company have to do to turn around its European patient?
First, fix Vauxhall. Vauxhall does not have a poor image. Rather, it has no image. It is a fathomless black hole of a brand, the magnolia of motors. You feel about Vauxhalls like you feel about your fridge. It works. It is capable. And that’s it. Ford has the Mustang and the Sierra Cosworth and Jackie Stewart, and the Focus and new Fiesta. Toyota has the Prius and iQ and the halo of corporate success. Kias are cheap. Renault has Nicole. A Vauxhall stands for… nothing.
Second, and this really follows on from point one, make some distinctive cars. That is the problem with Vauxhalls. They are wallflowers on wheels. Even when they make good cars – like the Insignia – nobody really wants one. Not really. Opels and Vauxhalls never move the game on. They are not innovators. In this tough climate, only the pacesetters will win.
Yet – hallelujah! – across the storm-ravaged sea, a bright star is sparkling. The upcoming Opel/Vauxhall Ampera – never mind that it is a US Chevrolet Volt clothed in Germany – promises to be something exceptional when sales start in 2012. This is the car that GM, for so long the follower, has staked its future on. It is brave and visionary and stands to be the most significant ‘hybrid’ since the first Prius, and the most convincing everyday ‘electric’ car yet built.
It really could turn around Opel and Vauxhall. Vauxhall could have a halo, rather than a black hole.
Letting the Russians sell the Ampera, I suspect, was really the last straw for all those proud Cold War-reared Yanks sitting around their boardroom in Detroit. The Ampera may have saved GM’s ownership of Vauxhall/Opel, just as it may save GM.
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