Vx/Opel to do a Saab?

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Thu 9 Feb 2012 10:28
Vx/Opel to do a Saab? - ChannelZ

www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/261260/

Vauxhall/Opel is bracing itself for another round of cost cuts that could even extend to a closure of its Ellesmere Port plant, according to a report citing a General Motors official.

The report, in the Wall Street Journal, claims GM is poised to reveal substantial losses for Vauxhall/Opel in its 2011 financial results. The unnamed source says there is “increasing frustration” towards Vauxhall/Opel from within GM and “the cuts two years ago did not go far enough”.

“If Opel is going to get fixed,” added the source, “it is going to get fixed now and cuts are going to be deep.”

Doesn't surprise me. As an ex-Vauxhall owner (I had 5 of them), their cars are worse made, with poorer spec, and older engines every year.

Why are they still struggling on with those rubbish Ecotec engines? The 1 litre and 1.2 are crap in the Corsa, that FIAT 1.3CDTI is a boat anchor, the 1.7CDTI is an old Isuzu from the 80s with a party frock, and the 2.0CDTI is the same rubbish Fiat 1.9JTD tarted up, and still as pants as it was in 1.9 trim.

As for wanting £20k+ for an Astra with a 90hp 1.4 petrol, they're having a laugh. Had one as a rental, wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding and only did 29mpg.

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Thu 9 Feb 2012 11:04
Vx/Opel to do a Saab? - unthrottled

If you peruse the technical forum, there are remarkably few queries regarding broken Vauhalls given the number of them on the road.

The same cannot be said for Vauxhall's arch rival, Ford.

My family has had various Vauxhalls going back to 1980 and, to be honest, they were all good.

Vauxhall have been quite a conservative company and this has probably counted against them in sales figures. The 1.3CDTi is pointless. But the 1.4 Turbo looks good and, unusually these days, it uses port injection which bodes well for long term reliability. I'm not sure the current love affair with direct injection will lead to happy marriages in long term ownership.

Edited by unthrottled on 09/02/2012 at 11:05

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Thu 9 Feb 2012 15:26
Vx/Opel to do a Saab? - jamie745

If you peruse the technical forum, there are remarkably few queries regarding broken Vauhalls given the number of them on the road.

The same cannot be said for Vauxhall's arch rival, Ford.

I dont see what you have against Ford, you never miss an opportunity to put them down despite being the Worlds 3rd biggest carmaker. Maybe the reason for a lack of Vauxhall related topics in Technical is because most of them are fleet and rental cars so if it breaks it just goes back, they dont log onto a forum and ask how to fix it. Ford has somewhat alienated the fleet sector recently and more private buyers own their cars now.

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Thu 9 Feb 2012 20:18
Vx/Opel to do a Saab? - Nezza
I have had great experience with Vauxhalls owning a 1.4 Corsa, two 2.2 Astras, and currently a 2.0T Astra. I have found them to be very reliable and cheap to run cars.

Our second car is a 2.2tdci Ford Galaxy which we recently bought for the family trips. Prior to this we had another Galaxy which was the worst and most expensive car to run we have ever owned costing us over £2k to repair in the last two years alone. So why buy another I hear you ask? The reason being it is the most family orientated vehicle we can find which can seat seven with adults in the back easily. What we did pay extra for was a 5yr warranty which also covers the DPF for peace of mind.

So from my experience I rate Vauxhall more than Ford for reliability but Ford infront of Vauxhall for interior design.

Also owned two Nissan Micras, both tin rattle boxes, one reliable cheap motoring, other spent more time broken down.

There are good and bad in all and it is all a matter of personal preference.
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Thu 9 Feb 2012 13:07
Vx/Opel to do a Saab? - Man without a plan

Where are you looking at to get a 1.4 for £20k+

www.perrys.co.uk/vauxhall-astra-1.4i-16v-exclusiv-...3

Similar / same car for £13k.

Also i'm no expert but having sat in the Insignias and Astras recently and other similar cars, i've always been very impressed with the spec on both in comparison to (for example) the very boring golf / 1-series interiors.

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Thu 9 Feb 2012 15:17
Vx/Opel to do a Saab? - ChannelZ

Where are you looking at to get a 1.4 for £20k+

OK, £19130 for the one I was driving. That's a LOT of money for a 1.4 SRI that wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding.

unthrottled, you're trolling. You know I'm ex-Vauxhall, and I've said it plenty of times on here that the Vx's I had were progressively worse over the years. Mk5 Astra with the 1.9CDTI that had constant EGR and inlet manifold issues, the top mounts rusted out as they were filled with water (good design there), CIM issues. Mk4 Astra that rusted (good trick on a galvanised car). Vectra that popped it's engine at just over 20k on the clock, at 10 months old.

The neighbour got a new Insignia 2.0CDTI SRI about 4 months ago. Only broken twice and rolled off down the street once. He had a Focus before, and regrets the day he changed for the Insignia.

Then there's my Mondeo, 7 years old with 70k and apart from clutch failure, little has gone wrong...

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Thu 9 Feb 2012 13:31
Vx/Opel to do a Saab? - Auristocrat

With platforms being shared across GM Holden/GM Korea and GM Europe, there could be an avenue for GM to ditch Opel and Vauxhall and concentrate on the Chevrolet brand in Europe. For example the Cruze and Orlando share the Delta platform with the Astra and Zafira, the new Aveo will share its platform with the next generation Corsa, Holden is developing the Epsilon 2 platform used for the Insignia for their use.

If GM sell off Opel/Vauxhall, likely buyers will be Chinese, and, as with Saab, GM won't want their technology to go to a Chinese firm for fear of copying.

Would there be scope for SAIC to buy Opel/Vauxhall? SAIC are using the GM Epsilon platform for the MG7 and the next generation Roewe 750.

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Thu 9 Feb 2012 13:36
Vx/Opel to do a Saab? - colinh

Think GM will be going down the "world car" route within the year - the Chevrolet range is getting larger and has some competitive cars recently. They've probably seen Ford's progress and will likely copy

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Thu 9 Feb 2012 21:00
Vx/Opel to do a Saab? - sandy56

The answer is on the roads, what do you see around you?

VX have been going downhill sales wise for years. I was always surprised that OPEL didnt replace VX and save some money that way.

Why do people buy so much foreign cars in this country? There is no a lot made in the UK.

Why not buy British instead of xxxxxxx Asian?

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Thu 9 Feb 2012 21:33
Vx/Opel to do a Saab? - Auristocrat

"Why not buy British instead of Asian?"

Of the 15 new cars we have bought, five have been British built - one Honda Concerto, two Nissan Primeras, one Toyota Corolla, and one Toyota Auris !!!

Asian manufacturers (Nissan, Toyota, Honda and Tata (Jaguar/Landrover) make up the majority of Britain's car industry today, and if it wasn't for these Asian manufacturers we wouldn't have any volume car production in the UK.

Edited by Auristocrat on 09/02/2012 at 21:35

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Thu 9 Feb 2012 22:21
Vx/Opel to do a Saab? - Trilogy

No big loss if Vauxhall/Opel goes. Just another hole for the Chinese to fill. Having said that I think the Astra is a fine looking car, better than a Focus and I like the Insignificant!

Just hope GMAU will be around for many more years. Cruze Wagon is about to be launched.

VW has been doing v. well with the Golf in the UK. Last time I looked it was no.4in the top 10 best sellers

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Thu 9 Feb 2012 22:33
Vx/Opel to do a Saab? - Auristocrat

With SAIC using the GM Epsilon platform for the next Roewe 750 and the MG7, how about badge engineered versions of these Chinese built cars to replace the Insignia?? Cheaper Chinese production, and SAIC could have the same contractual relationship as Suzuki does with GM as regards the Agila.

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Fri 10 Feb 2012 10:02
Vx/Opel to do a Saab? - ChannelZ

Why not buy British instead of xxxxxxx Asian?

We bought "Asian" two years ago. Brand new i30 1.4 Comfort for £10k on the road. Aircon, MP3 stereo, 108PS engine, 5 year warranty. No way we'd have got a "British" car for that. A basic Corsa or Fiesta would be the best we could have done for £10k, and they were too small.

The i30 has been totally reliable, rattle and squeak free, and despite only being a 1.4 the little engine is giving 108PS and goes really well, and is doing 42mpg average. A 1.6 Focus does 100hp and you'd be lucky to get mid-30s fuel economy.

I do like my Ford, and the Focus was a contender. £10k was in the league of 18 month old cars with rubbish engines and 20k of rental fleet driving on them. I know which I'd rather have.

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