Vauxhall’s new Adam really could be a one-in-a-million car.
That’s the bewildering possible reality when you do the sums and calculate every possible variation of the new four-seat, three door city car which was the only model on the Vauxhall stand at the Paris motor show.
Adam will be sold in three trim levels: Jam, Glam and Slam.
The Adam will be available with 70ps 1.2 and 87ps or 100ps 1.4 petrol engines and later there will be a 1.0 direct injection petrol with 6-speed ‘box which dips under the 100g/km mark. Paint and options include the latest in-car media systems.
Vauxhall anticipate selling between 10,000 and 12,000 Adam models in Britain in a full year and that 80 per cent will go to retail buyers rather than company car drivers and will “turn heads and put a smile on people’s faces,” said Duncan Aldred, chairman and managing director of Vauxhall UK.
The Adam and the Mokka “are transformational products” that will make people re-appraise the brand. There is an “emotional connection” with the cars that has been missing from previous Vauxhalls, he said.
Mr Aldred is predicting sales of 10-15,000 a year for the Adam and around 30,000 for the Mokka which will make the compact crossover Vauxhall’s third best-seller.
It is also a car that he expects to appeal to business buyers who prefer to buy privately and then charge tax-free payment mileage payments to their company. “It’s priced very well against Golf and Focus,” he said.
Appealing to more retail buyers is a key element of Mr Aldred’s strategy as he wants Vauxhall to be less reliant on the company car fleet market. Sales to fleet have been reduced to 55 per cent of total sales while Vauxhall now accounts for one-in-ten retail sales. ‘We’ve closed the gap on Ford and are ahead of VW,’ he said. ‘We’re having a good year in a gloomy Europe.’
The UK is a shining light in an otherwise bleak European car market, according to him.
Speaking after the unveiling of the new ADAM, Mr Aldred said manufacturers in Continental Europe are looking with envy at the UK market which is expected to see close to 400,000 registrations of 62-plate models in September.
“This sort of figure makes us stand out in the European market place,” he said. “The UK is a shining light in an otherwise bleak market, particularly when you look at southern Europe as a whole.”
Mr Aldred (left) said that while the huge Russian market took millions of cars it is not particularly profitable for car makers and even the traditionally strong German market is showing signs of slipping but the UK is a profitable place in which to sell cars, helped by the exchange rate and the weak Euro.
He went on to call for the Government to help the UK motor industry with a strategic long term plan which it would stick to and consider how the automotive sector could be helped to create jobs and wealth in Britain by attracting more manufacturers and component suppliers to make more in the UK.
He said the new three-door, four-seat ADAM will be in dealerships in February for between £11,255 and £14,000 and claimed it would break new ground with its dramatic exterior and interior styling and features which provided over a million possible combinations for buyers.
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