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Crossovers may drive Opel Vauxhall more upmarket

A new range of crossover vehicles is being planned as part of a fresh bid to drive Opel-Vauxhall into the European premium car market.

The move follows an acceptance that the US giant is unlikely to regain the significant amount of business car registrations it has lost in recent years to BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi, according to Bob Lutz, vice chairman of product development.

“When the German premium brands move down into the territory that used to be dominated by Ford and Opel-Vauxhall, you’ve had it.

“Even if you do a better car, you just cannot win against that kind of brand value. I know because we have tried it four times and failed – we just cannot compete at the upper end of the market with Opel and Vauxhall,” Lutz told Automotive Engineer.

Interviewed at the London Motor Show, Lutz said he accepted that the Vectra model represented the upper end of GM’s volume brand line-up in Europe. “This is a real issue and we can’t make it go away, so our upmarket aspirations over here have to be focused on brands like Saab and Cadillac.

“To say we are not satisfied with the growth of Cadillac would be an understatement, but Saab is doing very nicely and is capable of being a premium-position product. I don’t think there is any upper limit as to where we can put a Saab, but there’s very definitely an upper limit to where we can put an Opel or a Vauxhall.

“But it seems these limitations apply only in the passenger car sector. The minute you do a sport utility, it’s a different ball game, and So as we develop a line of sport utility or crossover type vehicles for Opel and Vauxhall, we can break out of the price restrictions we have at the moment and tackle the premium sector from another direction,” he said.

Lutz noted the more upmarket positioning of GM Europe’s new Corsa small car, the subject of a spectacular unveiling by helicopter over the Thames that cost €1.5 million.

“The basic design cost of this car is higher, because it is larger, but that has been offset by efficiencies in procurement and assembly, so the net result is that it is costing us the same to build.”