Vauxhall reveals three-year plan to overhaul Ford

A series of strategic initiatives have been planned to guide Vauxhall to leadership of the UK new car market over the next three years.

Up to 16 new product introductions, model enhancements and engineering developments are in the pipeline to deliver the substantial additional sales and expansion the company is aiming for in its bid to overhaul arch-rival Ford in the retail and true fleet sectors, Fleet News can reveal.

In his first interview since taking control of the Vauxhall Motors operation, Vauxhall chairman and managing director Tim Tozer confirmed the ambitious aspiration initiated by predecessor Duncan Aldred to take number one position in the UK market remained on track.

Speaking on the eve of the Geneva motor show, he said: “We're starting with developments of the Adam small car range, then later this year an all-new Corsa will take over as one of the mainstays of our business and will be followed by a replacement for the Agila city car.

“The outlook for our operation is good. We have the capacity to be stronger and the Insignia is a good example of how we can achieve that – it is doing extremely well and is building up a huge order bank.

"Fleets and user choosers love the fact that it offers 99g/km tailpipe emissions and we aim to continue along this path and deliver products that surprise our customers. Increasingly, our cars will be lighter and boast better engineering.

He added: “The fleet sector is set to play a big part in a strategic business plan that has the full support of a global company that has taken full stock of its position in Europe and has both the willpower and resources to improve it.

“I don't want to exclude some of the very large and very loyal customers we have, but we want to be stronger in user chooser and leasing.

"Our ambition is to be number one in retail and true fleet – and that excludes daily rental. We're not going to get to number one in retail and true fleet by doing more and more daily rentals.

“Bluntly, if we achieve leadership in retail and true fleet after capping our rental activities at around the current 40,000 unit annual volume, we will be celebrating.

“Our product proposition has to hit the hot spots and it will. We're working through a $5 billion investment in powertrain, new cars and a new version of the Vivaro van that will play a significant part in our competition with Ford because it's British built, based on a vehicle that's highly regarded and just happens to be a great product, believe me,” he said.