New Vauxhall Viva

DominicH

I don't think it's national pride or "buy British" sentiment. It's familiarity. People tend to buy brands they are familiar with. They know Vauxhall, not so much Opel. GM would have to spend a ton of money over several years getting Opel brand awareness up to the level of Vauxhall, and presumably they don't think it's worth it. If Vauxhall has image problems, it possibly makes sense to try to fix that rather than throw the brand out and start almost from scratch.

andrewf75

Nessun_Dorma wrote: »

That's because they are aimed at a different market.

Not really. VW and Vauxhall are direct competitors. Yes, Vauxhall is slightly more downmarket, but there is no fundamental difference between the market for Astras and the market for Golfs. Most buyers would probably consider both cars.

I take dominics point about familiarity, I think thats probably hit the nail on the head

aeroblade

andrewf75 wrote: »

Not really. VW and Vauxhall are direct competitors. Yes, Vauxhall is slightly more downmarket, but there is no fundamental difference between the market for Astras and the market for Golfs. Most buyers would probably consider both cars.

I take dominics point about familiarity, I think thats probably hit the nail on the head

Agreed, Vauxhall does compete with VW but it doesn't compete with most other German brands like Audi/Merc/BMW/Porsche.


Even VW is in general more expensive than Vauxhalls. I think the VW is more in competition with the likes of Volvo or Honda purely from price standpoint. Vauxhall competes more with Ford, Kia or French cars

JP08

Owned one of the HC Vivas (must have been one of the last, 1978 model) somewhere around 1992.

What I do remember was that it was a step UP from the cars I'd had before; less rust than the Fiat 127, FAR less rust than the mini van (and lighter on the steering - 10" sports steering wheel on an original mini anyone ?), much less rusty than the Chrysler Sunbeam, better in EVERY respect than the Morris Ital Estate.

Beautiful little quick change gearbox (but then compared to an Ital's wibbly wand, a wooden spoon to stir the cogs would have been better). Very finicky on the tyre pressures. Couple of pound too low and it wallowed, couple too high and it skittered. Nice manners for the day in the sweet spot though. By the standards of the day it was one of the better cars.

At £285 purchase price - £140 sale price for 2.5 years / 25k almost trouble free motoring - yes £54 depreciation per year - it tops my MoneySaving list for £/mile and £/year to this day.

Edited addition - one thing that did annoy me though, was that the Viva had (at first glance) a lot of the mechanicals of the later Chevette - especially the over-square 1300 (1256!) engine. Sadly you couldn't walk round the breakers and pick up the plentiful Chevette parts for your Viva as, apparently, it was the point when Vauxhall went from Imperial to Metric threads ...

andrewf75

aeroblade wrote: »

Agreed, Vauxhall does compete with VW but it doesn't compete with most other German brands like Audi/Merc/BMW/Porsche.


Even VW is in general more expensive than Vauxhalls. I think the VW is more in competition with the likes of Volvo or Honda purely from price standpoint. Vauxhall competes more with Ford, Kia or French cars

True but being German is a major selling point when it comes to cars surely?

aeroblade

andrewf75 wrote: »

True but being German is a major selling point when it comes to cars surely?

The problem with a lot of people, and this is not only specific to the topic of motoring, is that they make generalised, open ended, sweeping comments such as this. Being German has the perception that it is of quality but the brand matters more. If Vauxhall were ever re-introduced in the UK as the German brand Opel, it may have the initial appeal of being 'German' but overtime even the general public who know nothing of cars will know it doesn't meet the higher Engineering standards to that of BMW/Merc/Porsche.

Nessun_Dorma

keith1950 wrote: »

"So you've driven the Viva?" .....yes , I have driven most cars on the market at one time or another.

Nessun_Dorma wrote: »

The New Viva has just been launched, under what circumstances have you driven it?

Sorry to be a pain, but I was wondering about this.

Skintski

keith1950 wrote: »

"So you've driven the Viva?" .....yes , I have driven most cars on the market at one time or another.


"Its a shame Vauxhall couldn't come up with a different name for the Viva, even sticking with Aguila would have been a better bet".........do you mean Agila ??



"Both appear to be personality lacking small cars produced by Vauxhall".......the Agila is basically a Suzuki Splash so its comparing two different manufacturers.


"(saw the new VXR8 GTS last weekend and even that was full of tacky looking plastic despite it's hefty price tag)"......this is basically the Australian Holden......so again basically different manufacturer.

If you compare the Corsa with similar sized cars such as the Polo,Fiesta,Fabia,and others you will find a similar plasticky finish. I personally wouldn't buy a Corsa but they are comparable with other cars in the price range.

If criticising my misspelling of Agila is your best argument I think that's a little poor. The Suzuki and the Vauxhall are the same car with different trim that's all.

The VXR8 may be based on a Holden albeit that applied more so to the Monaro but they are all under the GM umbrella so not really a different manufacturer. That's like saying Opels are different.

I like others would be highly surprised if you had driven the new Viva given it's very recent launch.

They should have left the Viva badge in the past where some still look upon it fondly. I bet the owners club are extremely disappointed with the new offering.

keith1950

Quote:
Originally Posted by keith1950
"So you've driven the Viva?" .....yes , I have driven most cars on the market at one time or another.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nessun_Dorma
The New Viva has just been launched, under what circumstances have you driven it?

Sorry to be a pain, but I was wondering about this.


Hi, my work involves delivering/collecting new cars and various other driving related jobs.


I have driven just about every new car produced with the exception of the likes of Ferrari, Porsche and several other top end cars.


Some people mention the reliability of Korean cars and some are very good however some are very basic, it all depends what you want/what you are used to.


During my work I regularly come across AA and RAC breakdown men , some of whom tell me that the brand that has more breakdowns than other makes is actually BMW.


As part of my previous employments I regularly covered 80,000 miles per year however during the last 10/11 have only done around 50,000 per year.


As I said earlier the Viva and the Corsa are two completely different cars aimed at two completely different markets with a £2000 ( or more ) price difference.


I am more bothered about how a car performs/handles than the quality of its "plastic" interior.

Skintski

keith1950 wrote: »

As I said earlier the Viva and the Corsa are two completely different cars aimed at two completely different markets with a £2000 ( or more ) price difference.


I am more bothered about how a car performs/handles than the quality of its "plastic" interior.

Ask yourself whether people who purchase either the Viva or the Corsa are more interested in it's performance, doubtful I feel.

I attended the yearly VBOA rally last weekend where I heard lots of opinions on the Viva, many of the Griffin enthusiasts likened it very much to the Corsa, just for a different age range. But then what would they know....