General Motors’ Opel-Vauxhall brands are keen to return to profitability, but rival Ford has plans to do much the same. According to a report from Automotive News, this has created a turf war over the territory for profitability and marketshare.
As the report states, the Britain and the U.K. trail Germany in overall car sales in Europe, but growth has made the U.K.-market the fourth largest for General Motors, just behind Brazil.
Profit targets were to blame for former Managing Director Tim Tozer’s departure from Vauxhall, with a source close to Tozer stating Vauxhall was “hellbent” on being profitable in the short-term, and was ready to sacrifice long-term Tozer plans.
A Vauxhall spokesperson denied the philosophy stating, “We’re not going back to pile ’em high and sell ’em cheap. We’ll be nudging Ford quite hard next year.”
Another problem for both marques in their respective markets are luxury brands. Luxury brands have begun to eat into more pedestrian brand sales. Vauxhall’s 2006 marketshare stood at a healthy 13-percent but, ten years later, BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz have eroded it down to 10-percent.
Nonetheless, both local rivals are sure to hatch plans for long-term success. And with Vauxhall, that starts with the 2016 Astra, inbound crossovers and an all-new Vauxhall Insignia.
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