Vauxhall marque will not be axed in the UK

by James Quilter, Marketing 26-Jul-06

Vauxhall marketing director Andy Gilson has reiterated that General Motors has no plans to scrap the brand and replace it with Opel in the UK.

Speculation has mounted in recent years that the Vauxhall marque would
be replaced by Opel, which is used across the rest of Europe.

Much of its marketing function has already been centralised at Opel's

European headquarters in Frankfurt. In addition, since 2005 Vauxhall has

been inserting its logo into advertising created centrally by Opel to
run across the Continent.

Speaking at the British International Motor Show, Gilson said: 'Vauxhall
is here to stay. Retail sales have been going up. If there was anything
wrong with the brand, that would not happen.'

Vauxhall/Opel is currently holding a £60m pan-European pitch for
an umbrella ad campaign (Marketing, 19 April). The work, which is being
contested between DLKW, McCann-Erickson Frankfurt and 180 Amsterdam, is
due to run in the second half of 2007.

The pitch is being handled by Opel executive director for marketing
Alain Visser out of the company's Frankfurt office. The winning agency
will run the campaign in its home market, with the remainder of the
activity co-ordinated by the McCann network.