Vauxhall is returning to making ‘very good cars for modest people’, the firm’s managing director Stephen Norman is reported to have said.

Mr Norman, who has been managing director of Vauxhall Motors and Opel Ireland since February, was speaking to the Sunday Telegraph.

The interview took place in the boardroom at Vauxhall’s Griffin House in Luton, described as ‘decorated with Union Jack branding emphasising Vauxhall’s Britishness’.

Mr Norman is said to have been brought in to turn things around after Peugeot-Citroen paid £1.9bn for the company buying Vauxhall and its European sister brand Opel from General Motors.

Stephen Norman who has been appointed managing director of Vauxhall Motors and Opel Ireland
Stephen Norman, managing director of Vauxhall Motors and Opel Ireland

He argues that Vauxhall has been underselling itself by offering discounts suggesting: “We’re softish, goodish, not-too-bad-ish’. We’ve got to say what Vauxhall actually is. We’ve nothing to be ashamed about.”

Under his control Vauxhall plans to regain the image of making ‘very good cars for modest people’.

“Our job is to make very good cars you don’t have to pay through the nose for,” he says. “That doesn’t mean they are cheap.”

The Sunday Telegraph suggested the future of Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant could hinge on adjusting production to meet demand.

“If Norman can improve how drivers perceive Vauxhall, this could help secure jobs at the plant,” it believes.

Vauxhall and Opel sold 202,000 cars and 29,000 vans in England and Ireland in 2017.

The company recently announced a half year profit of 502m euros after cutting costs and reversing losses under years of General Motors ownership.

In Ellesmere Port staff were reduced by around a third to cut production of the Astra and Astra Tourer compact models to a single shift.

Vauxhall/Opel was said to be ‘on the road to writing a successful comeback story’.

“We are a completely different company than 12 months ago. We have set the course for even more competitiveness and have already aligned many areas for the future. We are profiting massively from being part of the successful Groupe PSA,” it said.

The competitiveness of production plants throughout Europe has been ‘significantly improved’ and management had reached performance agreements at all European sites.

Earlier this summer Vauxhall launched a new advertising campaign for the Ellesmere Port built Astra highlighting the company’s new ‘confidently British‘ approach.

It described the Astra as ‘a brilliant stalwart on the British roads’ with one in four Brits having owned or driven an Astra which was crowned European Car of the Year in 2016.

Mr Norman said: “The Vauxhall Astra has been one of Britain’s best-selling and loved cars for almost four decades. Our campaign demonstrates our confident British attitude in an innovative and creative way. Vauxhall will become more distinctive and relevant to car buyers up and down the UK.”