General Motors’ European Opel and Vauxhall brands are closely intertwined, but GM CEO Fritz Henderson recently revealed Vauxhall will be staying in the GM fold even if Opel is sold off. That leaves Vauxhall’s future lineup in question, but one possible solution has emerged.
According to Autocar, GM could be planning to source future Vauxhall models from its South Korean Daewoo unit. Vauxhall currently sources the majority of its vehicles from Opel, but that relationship will undoubtedly end after Opel is sold.
However, that solution wouldn’t exactly be problem free. Although Daewoo has a number of vehicles in its lineup that could replace current Vauxhall models, most of those cars are already sold in the UK under the Chevrolet banner. GM is known for its badge engineering, but it seems highly unlikely that the Detroit automaker would employ such tactics in its current state.
To avoid two full lines of identical and competing vehicles, Vauxhall could absorb Chevrolet in the UK. That move would prevent any problem overlap, but could also prove to be extremely time consuming and a logistical nightmare.
A second scenario would see Vauxhall importing a larger number of Holden vehicles. Holden, GM’s Australian unit, already supplies Vauxhall with a version of its Commodore sedan.
While it remains unclear exactly how GM will supply the future Vauxhall, we can probably expect a hybrid of the two plans– some vehicles from Daewoo and some from Holden. That dramatic shift would essentially change the face of Vauxhall overnight, for better or for worse.
