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[Shackeng]

A report in the  financial pages yesterday stated that GM are going to position the VX & Opel brands more upmarket, to allow Chevrolet to fit lower down. Perhaps a new Omega?

[chrisgixer]

I don't understand why the General doesn't want to compete with the German marques. They seem completely disinterested. Its like a self admission they aren't good enough.

Although there's obvious sense in being cheaper. But surely they want to pinch more sails of them than they are?

[Andy B]

sails[/highlight] of them than they are?

Are GM going into yachting 

[05omegav6]

Hmmm... Chevrolet US are getting the VF Commodore SS for $44k, (about £30k)... at that price here they might actually sell a few of them Having said that, the Camaro starts at a measely $24k, (£16k in our money), and only $30k (£20k) for the convertible, which makes the Cascada look quite expensive

Both the Spark and the Cruze retail in the States for pretty much the same money as here, so no reason at all for the premium prices that we pay for the more interesting cars Although we seem to be limited to the range toppers for things like the Camaro/VXR8, which limits market interest and availability which only pushes the price up...
 
If VW can justify producing what amounts to a global product line up, then I can't see why Chevrolet don't  they, GM, would surely sell more cars overall if VX/Opel were positioned more like Buick in the States and supported by the complete Chevrolet range.

The lefthand drive argument holds very little water as approximately 25-30% of the global car market is righthand drive...

[TheBoy]

I don't understand why the General doesn't want to compete with the German marques. They seem completely disinterested. Its like a self admission they aren't good enough.

Its not what the market wants. So commercially impractical to develop. The exec saloon market wants BMW/Merc and to a lesser extend, Audi. Not anything with a Opel/Vauxhall badge.

Rover thried the slightly more upmarket route, reasonably successfully (due to a loyal following I suspect), but BMW overmilked it (some may say on purpose), so they are no more.  I have absolutely zero doubt that Opel woul go the same way if they tried it.

[symes]

why would GM want up market ? dont they own Cadillac?

[05omegav6]

why would GM want up market ? dont they own Cadillac?

And Buick...

[tunnie]

why would GM want up market ? dont they own Cadillac?

And Buick...

Both have no real placement in the UK/Europe. It's Opel/Vx and Chevvy in here

[05omegav6]

No reason why Opel couldn't join Buick and Cadillac as niche brands in Europe, with Chevrolet becoming the bread and butter money maker

[chrisgixer]

I don't understand why the General doesn't want to compete with the German marques. They seem completely disinterested. Its like a self admission they aren't good enough.

Its not what the market wants. So commercially impractical to develop. The exec saloon market wants BMW/Merc and to a lesser extend, Audi. Not anything with a Opel/Vauxhall badge.

Rover thried the slightly more upmarket route, reasonably successfully (due to a loyal following I suspect), but BMW overmilked it (some may say on purpose), so they are no more.  I have absolutely zero doubt that Opel woul go the same way if they tried it.

That's down to image...and to an extent build quality IMO.

[Sir Tigger KC]

I can't see how using American brands here will help sales, little hatchbacks with a Chevvy badge on them look as fake as an orange girls tan!    Chevvy to me says V8 Pickup! 

If GM wanted a quality brand in Europe they should have kept and developed Saab to compete with the German marques and then kept Vx/Opel firmly where it is to compete with Ford, Peugeot, Fiat etc 

[05omegav6]

That's where GM have been quite clever...

When they cleared the decks, and shut down Pontiac and Oldsmobile, GM integrated the defunct Saab range, including a couple of smart SUVs into the Buick range, and relaunched it at the upper end of the middle class market firmly between Chevrolet and Cadillac.

If I might be so bold...

The future of General Motors.

Rebrand the entire Opel/VX range as Chevrolet, with the exception of the Insignia and Cascadia. These can be marketed as Buicks, (the Insignia platform is already sold as a couple of Buick variations). Can the Antara, (it's only a rebadged Chevrolet Captiva anyway).

Add the full Holden range to the Chevrolet brand, (only the Commodore is an all Aussie product, the rest being a mish mash of Chevrolet and Opel/VX models already).


Chevrolet also produce a wide range of commercial vehicles from pick ups to large vans, so bin the rebadged Renualt van program.

This would leave GM three distinct global brands...

Chevrolet would be the mainstream manufacturer of everything from city cars to large vans, all sold at the same price the world over.
Buick would be the slightly upmarket brand to compete within the executive market.
Cadillac would be the flagship brand.

The key to the whole plan being that every single model would be readily available across the globe at the same price, so a $12000 Chevrolet Spark would cost £8k here, €8.5k in europe and $Aus16k down south. Factories affected could switch to producing either units in regional demand or to take up any excess demand for other regions.

If you want to be fussy, you could consider swapping Buick for Opel, but be realistic, noone outside the UK would choose to buy a Vauxhall branded car, as it will mean nothing to them The American Brands are synonymous with the American Dream, and recognised the world over. If we were to play word association and I said 'Chevvy', I pretty much guarantee that 95% of you would reply with a V8 related answer

[Sir Tigger KC]

The American Brands are synonymous with the American Dream, and recognised the world over. If we were to play word association and I said 'Chevvy', I pretty much guarantee that 95% of you would reply with a V8 related answer

I also think leaf springs and 1970's technology in general! That goes for all American brands...   

[05omegav6]

Modern yanks are much more than either of those stereotypes with the notable exception of the Ford Mustang

[Sir Tigger KC]

The trouble with stereotypes is that they're hard to break. 

So if we take Fiat for example, who's cars were renowned for disintegrating into a pile of dust within weeks.    How many Fiats do we see on Britain's roads these days?  Not many..... Well a few more with the introduction of the Fiat 500 but....