Neither of them have cars i would buy, but you can bet yourself 5 bob that if it happens luton and Ellesmere port will close.

Edited by SLO76 on 14/02/2017 at 18:53

Neither of them have cars i would buy, but you can bet yourself 5 bob that if it happens luton and Ellesmere port will close.

Why's that then?

I'm not sure we'll see the end of Vauxhall production here, though kicking the bootlid in when they redesigned the unfacelift of Astra hasn't helped by ruining it's quietly handsome previous looks, did they recruit Toyota's ugly stick carrying designer for that facelift one wonders.

Vauxhall have always had large volume sales to the fleet and rental market, and i see no reason why with some fresh design ideas they shouldn't appeal to more private buyers/leasers too, its not as if the dealers are any worse or better than the rest, just some fresh thinking is called for and providing some decent warranties to fall in line with Korean cars.

With all the talk of Brexit, assuming it comes to pass which is by no means assured, (though thankfully poisonous Blair has chucked a self destruct grenade into the remain camp just be being there), we may yet see a resurgence of patriotic purchasing as our own industry starts to rebuild itself, which would be no bad thing...and i include all maker's who actually beuild cars here, especially the Japanese who show no signs of wanting to up sticks, despite the scare stories during operation fear.

Edited by gordonbennet on 20/02/2017 at 10:04

According to Reuters, PSA and GM have reached agreement for PSA to buy Opel/Vauxhall

www.reuters.com/article/us-opel-m-a-idUSKBN16A240?...0

An announcement is due on Monday

Seen that on www.wheelsmag.com.au too.

I imagine that arrangements over shipping Insignia II to Australia as the Holden Commodore (they shouldn't have used that name IMO) will have been part of the deal for a few years - but otherwise Holden are dependent on Daewoo and the Americans, not a good place to be.

Agree, it's difficult to see how PSA can turn enormous loss making businesses to profit-- . As RT says, I fully expect to see closure or downsizing of UK plants as part of it, as I understand there's spare capacity in Europe.

Whether we are for or against Brexit, the reality of a 20% fall in sterling plus the uncertainty over trading arrangements will be factors which affect decisions made in the Board rooms of businesses large and small. Businesses will simply go or move wherever there is most profit to be made over the next 5 to 10 years. Some may benefit from a UK base but the big automotive manufacturers stand to lose the most if free movement is affected, as components move back and for all the time. I believe BMW Mini are looking at their options too,

I take the point about economies of scale, but Vauxhall/opel will be fishing in the same price and quality pond as Peugeot and Citroen (with the exception of the DS brand).

They need to make the decision to either make Vauxhall/Opel the budget brand and go after the lower end of the market (they do now with the heavy discounts, they need to be more honest and focused about it) or they make citroen the budget brand, keep Vauxhall/Opel mainstream and try and push Peugeot up into the premium section with DS.

The problem is the Peugeot and Citroen ranges currently cater for both the budget side and the aspirational side of the market, adding Vauxhall/Opel just confuses matters further.

Preditions about the death of Vauxhall and Opel may well be true, but its possible they will be taking Peugeot and Citroen with them.

Other question, who will now buy a Vauxhall? The writing is on the wall. Unless your leasing for 3 years, if you want long term ownership a Vauxhall will take on Chevrolet/Daewoo levels of depreciation once the real plans start to get publicised.