The recent lockdown disturbed the plans of Vauxhall to launch its new supermini, but the brand is gearing up again to make it successful. The lockdown occurred right in the middle of the launch of the new vehicle, Corsa that holds extreme value for the company.
The company, now, needs to build momentum, if it wants to achieve the goals it set. The brand’s boss, Stephen Norman said that the lockdown occurred at the time of the launch and they were about to launch petrol and diesel versions. But the lockdown has delayed their plans for at least 6 months. It may have only lasted for two or three months, but it has caused more damage than that.
Norman believes they still have a lot to do in terms of marketing to make sure that the demands are equal to what they were before lockdown. He also believes that the recently launched Mokka SUV would also help them. According to the estimates, the recent crisis has resulted in 470,000 cars being taken out of the market. Norman said that the crisis cost them 36,400 sales, which is a big hit.
The sales in September were good, just like last year, so the boss thinks the last quarter of the current year would enable them to predict for the next year. He said that, after the lockdown, in June, the brand delivered all the pre-ordered vehicles. In July and August, there was a significant increase in the demand from customers who couldn’t order during the lockdown.
Norman thinks that what’s causing the uncertainty for the last quarter of this year and the first quarter of next year is the unemployment in all sectors. The UK car industry was massively hit by the pandemic, and the sales were down by 42% in August, but he thinks the future of the brand depends on other factors.
The company is also enjoying the increased demand for the electric Vivaro van. It is set to deliver several thousand vehicles in the next few months. Despite a slow start due to the lockdown, the company wants the new Corsa to be the best selling electric vehicle in the UK next year. The customers’ interest in the smaller EVs has increased in recent times.
Norman said that their brand wants to provide unbeatable quality to the consumers, and where the new vehicle is expensive than its predecessors, the customers would notice some significant changes.