Duncan Aldred may look impossibly young to be managing director of Vauxhall Motors but, after 20 years with General Motors, he is getting close to qualifying for the once traditional long-service ‘carriage clock’.
Aldred, 40, started as an undergraduate at the automaker’s Ellesmere Port assembly plant – these days a key source of Europe’s Astra models – before taking up a full time position in sales and marketing, distribution and then as a regional sales manager. He eventually became sales director for Vauxhall in the UK before moving to GM Europe in Budapest covering eastern European markets and then on to Germany.
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He moved back to the UK as managing director in January as GM emerged from its Chapter 11 turmoil in the US.
“What I soon discovered was that Vauxhall was not particularly tarnished by the problems at the parent company. The brand has been going for more than 100 years and the association with GM is not as strong as it is elsewhere. It was a lot tougher for Opel in Germany.
“We have a great relationship with the unions in the UK and we have done what needed to be done together to keep the brand going.
“But it was not the place I left in 2006 to go to Budapest – then it was progressive and confident. People within the organisation had been affected by the problems at GM. Now it’s all about getting them fired-up and passionate about the business again.
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By GlobalData“People have taken some pain in terms of job losses and pensions, but we have restructured and downsized to meet our industrial volumes. We are now back on the front foot and with some great products.
“Astra is the best-selling model in the UK retail market and, when you look at this car and the Insignia [basis of the acclaimed new US Buick Regal – ed], I believe we have jumped Volkswagen massively in terms of interior design. The quality and detail is outstanding.”
Aldred is also happy with the dealer network which is “intact and the right size”.
The hoped-for decision to build the new Ampera plug-in hybrid car at Ellesmere Port, together with a commitment to continue building commercial vans at Luton, could, he believes, help create between 400 and 500 more British jobs.
The Ampera is due to be launched in Europe in 2013 and Aldred said a decision on where it will be built will be made early next year.
“We can make a very good case for getting production of this car at Ellesmere Port,” he said. “There is already a lot of interest in the car from potential customers and we have started talking to fleet buyers which is very encouraging.”
GM Europe has already announced a commitment to renew its commercial vehicle venture with French maker Renault, which currently assembles the Vivaro and Trafic vans at Luton.
Where these will be built in future has yet to be finalised but Aldred is hopeful production will remain at Luton. He is also keen to continue making the Astravan, a uniquely popular British model, at Ellesmere Port.
The Merseyside factory produces the new Astra model and Aldred said the new Sport Tourer estate [wagon] model, launched last week at the Paris show, is an important addition to the assembly line.
“This model will be exclusively built at Ellesmere Port and 90% of the 140,000 models we make next year will go for export which is good news for the British economy.”
“I am pleased with the way things have gone since I came back in January. We have grown our market share by half a percent and we are expecting a good solid end to the year.”
As for 2011, Aldred is not expecting any significant increase in the UK market, but neither does he expect a ‘double-dip’ in economic terms, although he believes the increase in VAT to 20% in January will see sales droop in the first few months of the year.
