Bedford severs the Vauxhall link
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BEDFORD is severing its ties with Vauxhall Motors, and will become an autonomous European commercial vehicle manufacturer within General Motors, writes ALAN MILLAR.
In a move which will take Bedford a step closer to the GM "world truck" concept, a Bedford Commercial Vehicle Division of the General Motors Overseas Commercial Vehicle Corporation will be formed later this month. It will be affiliated to the GM Worldwide Truck and Bus Group, based at Pontiac, Michigan.
The new divisional management structure will be announced within weeks, but is expected to include present sales director Des Savage, manufacturing director Ed Naegli, product engineering director Ian McEwan, and design director Wayne Cherry.
There will be no immediate effect upon Bedford's dealer network, and new five-year contracts have just been concluded with the existing franchise holders.
All commercials will be sold and marketed by Bedford, although Vauxhall will continue to
be responsible for manufacturing some of the car-derived models. A company spokesman told CM that there is no likelihood of that arrangement being altered.
He also revealed that imports of Opel Rekord vans, of which 143 were sold in the first 10 months of this year, were stopped after August and will not be sold by Bedford.
Bedford's responsibilities will cover three manufacturing plants and two other major establishments, employing around 10,000 of the 20,000 Vauxhall/Bedford workers in Britain. These are: • Luton, building CF and HA vans; ckd parts for export; commercial vehicle press plant; CF engines; diff gear machining for cv; parts; and ckd boxing for lorry cabs.
• Dunstable, building TJ, TK, TL and TM lorries from 5.6 to 44 tonnes; buses; front and rear axles; and petrol and diesel engines.
• Ellesmere Port, building Astra vans (assembly operation), CF gearboxes; 510mm cv transmissions; and fuel tanks.
• Toddington parts warehouse, covering one million sqft.
'11) Millbrook proving ground.
Some of these facilities are shared with Vauxhall, and will continue to be.
The change in structure will help Bedford fit in with the year old Truck and Bus Division's aim of pooling the design, manufacturing and marketing resources of GM's international organisation to maximise economies of scale and realise the full potential of its large-scale production.
This is the corporation's approach to the "world truck" concept, and will mean that maximum use will be made of suitable parts across its range, be they door handles, engines, or floor pans. But it does not mean, necessarily, that identical vehicles will be built in Britain, and the United States.
The first British fruit of this approach is likely to be a CF medium-van replacement, which is planned for launch in three years.
Bedford will go on importing vehicles from Isuzu, the Japanese manufacturer in which GM has a 40 per cent share. A spokesman explained that lsuzu may have a part to play in the "world truck" projects, but this will depend on detail of the corporation's forward plans.