Paul Barker's blog: 21st October 2014: A warranted move for Vauxhall?

Date: 21 October 2014   |   Author:

The timing was interesting for Vauxhall MD Tim Tozer, sitting down with a group of journalists the day after the firm had announced it is ending its 'lifetime' 100,000-mile warranty offer.

The undertone of his argument was that customers don't understand how many exclusions can be present on a warranty, especially on cars more than three years old, where things do go wrong regardless of brand. He stopped short of commenting directly on how often work is carried out under warranty on older cars of other brands with extended offerings, but left his audience in no doubt that he felt customers are often left dissatisfied when informed that work they felt should be guaranteed will actually have to be funded out of their own pocket.

Vauxhall has also cited increasing moves by retail customers to personal contract purchase (PCP)-funded three-year deals, which could be good because it'll increase focus on achieving competitive RVs. In fact, Tozer hinted the long warranty was actually counterproductive in getting repeat business as it "pushed ownership cycles in a way we didn't want them to go".

It'll be interesting to see what impact the move has on Vauxhall's  perception in the market. Fleets intending to run a car for over three years will be disappointed, and it's a shame Vauxhall reverted to the basic three-years/60k miles rather than a longer mileage or time period, but it feels the cash is better spent elsewhere, with building brand perception being a key target.

Subscribe