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Vauxhall Now Plans To Terminate All Dealer Contracts In Refranchising Effort

Earlier this year, Vauxhall announced 100 dealerships would close in the next 12 months, but every single retailer will face terminated contracts in 2020.

Autocar reported on Monday that the refranchising effort will see all 326 dealerships lose their contract, and the brand will re-up with highly profitable retailers. The retailers chosen for new contracts in 2020 will also rank highly in used car sales, after sales and customer satisfaction. Inevitably, the 326 figure will grow even smaller.

“We believe some dealers need to make more money,” Vauxhall managing director Stephen Norman, said.

Currently, 93 different retailers operate the 326 dealerships, but Norman said the majority of them will stick around. He also believes the move won’t threaten any jobs, and seemed assured the retailers who won’t sell Vauxhall cars in the future will find another brand. Vauxhall employs 12,137 workers within its United Kingdom dealer network.

Meanwhile, Opel will see the same contract termination as well. Opel operates 1,600 dealers across Europe. And it’s more than likely both Vauxhall and Opel dealers will see integration with PSA Groupe’s other brands, too.

Norman said the integration is “a flexibility that we didn’t have before.”

Former GM Authority staff writer.

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Comments

  1. “Vauxhall employs 12,137 workers within its United Kingdom dealer network.”

    Vauxhall doesn’t employ them, the franchise owner employs them. Vauxhall doesn’t decide who a franchisee employes.

    Reply
  2. As the article says, this is a europe-wide action to terminate all contracts combined with — with very few exceptions — a Letter of Intent to offer of a new contract. In Germany only 12 out of 385 dealers don’t get the offer of a new contract. The new contracts are not yet finalized; these will be worked out in discussions with the associations of the dealers. The new contracts should be effective by 2020.

    There will no more separate contracts for passenger cars and for utilities, but all Opel/Vauxhall dealers should offer commercial vehicles and passenger cars side by side, in order to push the LCV segment. Similar for electrified vehicles: no special dealer network for electros, every dealer will be able to sell electrical cars.

    Reply

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