7:50 am, February 20, 2025
British brand Vauxhall is set for a major relaunch as the car maker aims to regain dwindling market share.
Speaking ahead of his appearance at our forthcoming Car Dealer Live event on March 13, Stellantis UK managing director Eurig Druce said he had big plans for the brand.
Druce is currently running Vauxhall in the UK alongside his existing job after James Taylor, the former managing director, left the business two weeks ago.
Druce told Car Dealer: ‘We have to relaunch Vauxhall.
‘One of the reasons that I’m doing the Vauxhall role today is that I want to see Vauxhall regaining market share.
‘I’ve gone to the dealer partners only this week to say that the declining market share is finished.
‘That’s not the way that we want to manage this business.’
Vauxhall has been steadily losing market share as its place at the top of sales charts ebbs away.
In 2024 it had a lowly 4% share and sold just 78,895 – a 21.4% decrease from the previous year.
Cast your mind back to 2008 and Vauxhall was selling just shy of 300,000 cars as it battled with Ford for the top spot every year as the best selling car brand.
Last year, Vauxhall didn’t even feature in the top 10 best selling car brands – overtaken instead by the likes of Kia, MG and Hyundai.
Druce added: ‘Vauxhall is a home brand. It’s a British brand, one of the only very few brands that are built and manufactured in the UK.
‘I want to see Vauxhall grow back again. Who knows to what level that we can achieve?
‘But I think Vauxhall is a brand that represents a big part of the opportunity in the market in the UK.
‘And so I think we want to see – and I’ll be judged on that measure – but I want to see Vauxhall growing back again.’
Druce took over from Maria-Grazia Davino, who left Stellantis to head-up BYD Europe in October, and leads Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroen, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Jeep, Abarth, and DS in the UK.
Eurig Druce will be appearing on our car manufacturer panel at Car Dealer Live on March 13 at the British Motor Museum. Tickets for car dealers and suppliers are available from the event website.
