page_title: Vauxhall Motors
section_title: 2000 to 2010
hierarchical_section_title: Vauxhall Motors / History / 2000 to 2010
caption_attribution_description: English: 2006 Vauxhall Astra Life CDTi 90 1.2 Front Taken in Leamington Spa
context_page_description: Vauxhall Motors Limited is a British Automobile manufacturer, subsidiary of French car manufacturer Groupe PSA and based in Chalton, Bedfordshire, England.
  Vauxhall's vehicle lineup is identical to that of Opel, but the Vauxhall brand is exclusively used in the UK. Vauxhall is one of the oldest established vehicle manufacturers and distribution companies in the United Kingdom.
  Vauxhall sells passenger cars and light commercial vehicles under the Vauxhall marque, and formerly sold vans, buses, and trucks under the Bedford Vehicles brand. Vauxhall has been the second-largest selling car brand in the UK for more than two decades.
  Vauxhall was founded by Alexander Wilson in 1857 as a pump and marine engine manufacturer. It was bought in 1863 by Andrew Betts Brown, who began producing travelling cranes; he named the company Vauxhall Iron Works. It began manufacturing cars in 1903. It was acquired by American automaker General Motors in 1925. Bedford Vehicles was established as a subsidiary of Vauxhall in 1930 to manufacture commercial vehicles.
  It was a luxury car brand until it was bought by General Motors who thereafter built mid-market offerings.
context_section_description: In 2000, Vauxhall entered the sports car market with the Lotus-based VX220 roadster. It re-entered the coupé market with the Astra Coupé. The new Agila city car and a second-generation  Corsa supermini also went on sale. On 12 December 2000, Vauxhall announced that car production at its Luton plant would cease in 2002, with the final vehicle being made in March 2002 following the end of production of the Vectra B and production of its replacement moving to Ellesmere Port alongside the Astra. Manufacture of vans (sold under the Vauxhall, Opel, Renault, and Nissan badges throughout Europe) continued at the IBC Vehicles plant in Luton. On 17 May 2006, Vauxhall announced the loss of 900 jobs from Ellesmere Port's 3,000 staff, part of significant worldwide staff reductions by GM.
  In 2002, the all-new Vectra went on sale, alongside a large hatchback badged as the Signum, which arrived the following year. The year 2002 was one of the best ever for Vauxhall sales in the UK. The Corsa was Britain's second-most popular new car, and gave the marque top spot in the British supermini car sales charts for the first time. The Astra was Britain's third-best selling car that year, while the Vectra and the Zafira (a compact MPV launched in 1999) were just outside the top 10. The second-generation Vectra was launched in 2002 and was further improved over earlier Vectras, but was still hardly a class-leader, and now had to be content with lower sales due to a fall in popularity of D-sector cars, although a facelift in 2005 sparked a rise in sales.
  In 2003, Vauxhall Omega production ended after nine years, with no direct replacement, while the Meriva mini-MPV was launched. Perhaps the most important Vauxhall product of the 2000s so far is the fifth-generation Astra, launched in early 2004, and praised by the motoring press for its dramatic styling. It was an instant hit with buyers, and was the nation's second-best selling car in 2005 and 2006, giving the Ford Focus its strongest competitor yet. Many police forces across the United Kingdom adopted the Astra as the standard patrol vehicle (panda car). Also in 2004, production of the Frontera ended after 13 years, with no direct replacement.
  In 2006, the third generation of the Vauxhall Corsa went on sale, after having its world premier launch at the 2006 British International Motor Show at ExCeL London. The second-generation Corsa had been Britain's most popular supermini for most of its production life, but by 2006, it had started to fall behind the best of its competitors, so an all-new model was launched. This Corsa sold far better than either of the previous Corsas, and it was an instant hit with buyers. Also in 2006, the second-generation Zafira was the 10th-best selling car in the UK, the first time that an MPV had featured in the top 10 in Britain.
  In 2007, Vauxhall's new 4x4, the Vauxhall Antara, was released in July. Vauxhall's powerful VXR8 that came with 306 kilowatts (416 PS; 410 bhp) was also introduced.
  In 2008, Vauxhall began rebranding with a modified corporate logo. The Vauxhall Insignia was launched at the 2008 British International Motor Show at ExCeL London, replacing the Vectra and won another "European Car of the Year". Vauxhall launched the new Agila city car.
  In 2009, a new generation of the Vauxhall Astra was launched.
  On 30 May 2009, a deal was announced that was to lead to the spin-off of the Vauxhall and Opel brands into a new company. On 1 June 2009, Vauxhall Motors' troubled parent company, General Motors, filed for bankruptcy in a court in New York. By then, the sale of Vauxhall and its German sister subsidiary, Opel, was being negotiated as part of a strategy driven by the German government to ring fence the businesses from any General Motors asset liquidation. The sale to Canadian-owned Magna International was agreed on 10 September 2009, with the approval of the German government. During the announcement regarding the sale, Magna promised to keep the Vauxhall factory at Ellesmere Port open until 2013, but could not guarantee any further production after that 
caption: The Astra Mark V, in production from 2004 to 2009
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