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Vauxhall to re-enter executive class
Date: 21 March 2007 | Author: Hugh Hunston
After signalling the Vectra's replacement at the Geneva show, General Motors is set to preview a radical flagship successor to the discontinued Omega at September's Frankfurt exhibition.
But Alain Visser, GM Europe's sales and marketing director, has ruled out Vauxhall's next range-topping model being a "regular saloon" with insiders hinting that it will be a radical MPV-cum-coupe.
Visser said: "There is no secret that we have had prolonged discussions about Omega's replacement, but it must be a distinctive, original, sporty concept with flexibility built in."
He added: "If you want to move up you need to head for different areas," and when asked about possibly following Ford's S-max or Mercedes' R-class he responded: "They do not represent the right direction for us. It would also be naive to do a regular saloon as a large car flagship."
Meanwhile, he said the upper medium successor, likely to abandon the Vectra name, was part of "moving the brand on, making bold statements and changing perceptions in a fleet-dominated segment, which generates boring cars".
Maintaining a coupe-like profile with four doors, like Mercedes' CLS, the Vectra replacement, said Visser would "provide an answer for user choosers seeking sexy cars for professional and personal use, and
re-position Vauxhall. It would help revitalise what has become a moribund sector for mainstream brands and rich pickings for the premium people".
At Geneva Visser virtually ruled out a coupe version due to "pretty low potential European volumes" even if Renault claims its Laguna Coupe will be viable. But it is believed the positive public and media response to the two-door GTC concept at Geneva has forced GM bosses to think again about introducing a spiritual replacement to the 1990s Calibra.
The upper medium Vauxhall's fleet significance is influencing plans to launch the production version at the London show in summer, next year.
