3.6.2004
Vauxhall To Enter Performance Market

Vauxhall will enter the fast-growing performance car market with our new VXR brand, which will see the launch of high-powered versions of every car in the Vauxhall range over the next three years.

A product development centre is being set up at Luton with production facilities likely to follow. The venture is Europe-wide, with similar cars to be offered by Opel, under the OPC (Opel Performance Cars) brand. But Vauxhall will take the lead role in developing the cars, with some of the highest-performance vehicles expected to be sold in the UK market only.

While the UK’s overall car market is second in Europe behind Germany’s, the UK has a uniquely large appetite for high-performance cars.

When fully introduced, sales of the VXR and OPC ranges across Europe should reach up to 30,000 a year. The brand will have the twin functions of being both profitable and providing an image boost to the Vauxhall brand.