Vauxhall Motors logo redesign to have ‘limited impact’ on showrooms

Vauxhall has said that any dealership corporate identity changes will have “have a limited impact on our retail network” after it followed in the tyre tracks of Volkswagen, BMW, Toyota and Lexus to create a new 2D brand logo.

Vauxhall Motors officially unveiled its latest logo design, presenting what it described as a “confidently British” reworking of its iconic griffin emblem, today (September 24) in the latest in a series of OEM re-branding exercises so far in 2020.

The logo will feature on car showrooms, marketing material and on new models like the forthcoming Mokka SUV, which will display the badge in a new Vauxhall Vizor grille and Pure Panel fully digital dashboard design.

A spokesman for Vauxhall Motors told AM that the introduction of the new logo would not prompt a far-reaching overhaul of the brand’s corporate identity (CI) which would add cost for franchised retailers, however.

“Vauxhall’s branding revisions will only have a limited impact on our retail network,” the spokesman insisted.

“The re-design of the Vauxhall logo will result in only minor changes to the exterior signage and roundels, and these will be implemented gradually over a period of time, as part of our normal maintenance and visits cycle.”

Specific changes to the Vauxhall logo include a move away from the 3D metallic texture which has been present since 2008, in favour of a flat minimalist design, which it said was “optimised for the digital age”.

It also loses the griffin’s wing and the word ‘Vauxhall’ across the top while retaining the “iconic” Vauxhall ‘V’, the brand said.

Vauxhall Motors managing director, Stephen Norman, said: “The bold yet simple redesigns reinforce Vauxhall's position as a confidently British brand.

“Constantly evolving and innovating, the brand continues to reinvent itself, with these most recent updates a reflection of Vauxhall's commitment to ingenious design and modernisation.

"While retaining its most iconic elements, the contemporary, minimal aesthetic had been created to seamlessly match our forthcoming models.”

As highlighted in a News Insight feature published in the latest edition of AM magazine, the Vauxhall brand recently finished third-bottom of the National Franchised Dealers Association’s (NFDA) Summer 2020 Dealer Attitude Survey in relation to its retail partners’ overall rating of the franchise.

The brand attracted a 3.8-out-of-10 overall rating (survey average: 6.0).

It was also third bottom in franchisees' ranking of OEM support in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

It scored 4.0-out-of-10 (average: 6.4) as Hyundai were found wanting in the face of adversity, attracting a 2.7 rating from franchisees with Fiat finishing second-bottom with a score of 3.9.

In total, 45% of the Vauxhall Motors network responded to the survey, the survey’s eighth lowest response. It was one of 11 OEM networks which delivered a survey response rate of less than 50%.