Why are opel cars called Vauxhall in England?

Answer 1

Vauxhall was an independent manufacturer, named after the area of the same name in London in 1857 where they first set up before moving production to Luton in Bedfordshire in 1905.

In 1925, the company was purchased by GM of America to give it a foothold in the UK and ultimately Europe in order to compete with Ford.

Opel was GMs German subsidiary and in the early 80s they directed an "Opelisation" of the Vauxhall brand which saw many models simply copied or imported. This was to save costs of development. This was also replicated with the Holden brand in Australia and New Zealand.

The Vauxhall brand was dropped in Ireland (Eire) in 1982 and other countries such as Cyprus, Malta and New Zealand later in the same decade.

It is generally accepted that the brand is too strong in the UK for GM to get rid of it in favour of Opel though the different model names were gradually dropped in favour of mainly Opel model names e.g. Vectra replaced Cavalier with the exception of Astra which replaced the Opel Kadett.

Answer 2

Vauxhall Opel

Answer 3

It as the late 60s when Opel set about a serious invasion of the UK, it had its own national sales company and was based at GM HQ in Hendon. Gradually dealers were recruited including some Vauxhall dealers who were happy to sell the (perceived) slightly upmarket Opel brand. Thins began to go wrong when the Opel Kadet arrived ahead of the Vauxhall Chevette, making it look like a lesser product. The entire range was more or less duplicated, the situation was getting intolerable and the situation was finally resolved at a meeting of the dealers of both franchises at the NEC in 1981, when it was announced that the franchises were to merge under one organisation based at Luton. Thus began the short life of the Vauxhall-Opel franchise, with the Opel “blitz” and yellow livery joining Vauxhall and GM to form a red, yellow and blue corporate identity which was applied to dealer fascias and letter heads alike. The dealer body was also rationalised. At first remaining dealers sold all products, but given the identical specification of the volume lines this was abandoned before the launch of the MKII Cavalier. A more sensible strategy of using the Vauxhall badge for the volume lines and Opel for the sportier or luxury cars was soon adopted. So now the only Opels sold in th UK were the Manta, Monza and Senator.In 84 the Senator became a Vauxhall to offer businesses a British luxury car, the sporty Mantas and Monzas continued, Monza was dropped in 1987, Manta was dropped in 1988, ever since then there have been no Opels sold in the UK.

Answer 4

Both Vauxhall and Opel companies are owned by General Motors.

Vauxhall started life as an independent British company, but was bought by GM in 1925. Opel was an independent German company, but was bought by GM in the 1930s.
The two companies designed and built different cars up to the 1970s, when design and engineering operations were combined to save costs. During the 1980s, sales of Vauxhalls fell across all of Europe except in the UK (why buy an "British" car with their reputation for unreliability when there is an identical "German" car available?). In the same period, sales of Opels fell in the UK (why buy a foreign car when there is an identical locally-badged car available?). GM decided to rationalise, and stopped using the Opel brand in the UK where the Vauxhall brand was strongest, and the Vauxhall brand elsewhere where the Opel brand was strongest - this allowed them to reduce inventory, advertising spend and other costs.

Some Opel/Vauxhall models are sold in other parts of the world under the Chevrolet (South America) and Holden (Australia and New Zealand) brands, while the Buick (China) and Cadillac (North America) brands have been used on Opel/Vauxhall models in the past.

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Why are opel cars called Vauxhall in England?

Answer 6

general motors who owns both the Vauxhall & Opel brands in Europe decided to harmonise the design and manufacture of its cars in Europe

essentailly the cars are the same, subject to a certain amount of customisation for each country. an opel is the same as a Vauxhall. this is nothing new, the GM / Vauxhall / Opel truck served both allied and Axis armies in the second world war.

Opels are sold throughout Europe with the exception of the UK & Switzerland (I think)where the same car is branded as Vauxhall. Vauxhalls are made on the same production line as Opels and vice versa.

The only UK produced GM cars are some Astras, apart from that all GM vehicles sold in the UK are produced outside the UK. The next generation Astra (which includes the small SAAB (another GM owned brand)) will be made in the UK and elsewhere in Europe.

Answer 7

Technically they are not Opel cars, they are Vauxhalls. Vauxhall was an independant marque. Then the company was bought by GM. In Britain GM cars are sold in places that have a vauxhall sign, so they put a vauxhall badge on GM cars that have been ordered by British dealers. The GM cars that are sold in Germany get an Opel badge, because the GM dealers in the fatherland have Opel signs. They don't build a different car for each country. In the past GM has sold German made cars in the states, Buick dealers got Opel's with a Buick label, Cadillac dealers got cars with Cadillac "catera' badges. The cars get a nameplate that matches the sign.

Answer 8

Switzerland has Opels, not Vauxhalls.

Vauxhall and Opel, although both GM brands, did produce completely different cars until the mid 80's. You may remember the Vauxhall Victor, Cresta, Chevette etc...

Answer 9

Vauxhall Motors Ltd. is part of General Motors’ family of companies in the UK and Ireland, which includes Saab GB, Opel Ireland and GMM Luton Vehicles operations and Chevrolet UK. Today, Vauxhall’s current car factory complex at GMM Ellesmere Port is one of the most modern car plants in Europe. It produces the new Astra for the Vauxhall brand and for Opel. Our group editor looked up the company and brand on the GM Media Web site and found that Vauxhall, which is more than 100 years old, built its first car in the Vauxhall district of South London in 1903. The company was purchased by GM in 1925. The name Vauxhall originated in the 13th century and referred to a parcel of valuable land on the bank of the River Thames.

Answer 10

I think you have that question the wrong way round. As Vauxhall is a British car manufacturer. Why are Vauxhalls called Opels in other countries? They are also called Holdens in Australia.