Vauxhall "regret" BTCC exit

In the past ten years or so Vauxhall have upped their game, and can hardly be regarded as truly downmarket anymore, they now build some very desirable models. However they still have some way to go to be regarded as top notch as the Germans.

Chevy are a cheap brand though. As for the two brands competing against each other, surely it wouldn't be a problem, Ford and Volvo competed against each other not so long ago for example.

The BTCC frankly needs a few manufacturers to come back, Vauxhall have been the stalwart for so many years now, and its a shame they pulled out, it would be very good for the championship if they were to return, we might even see a brand spanking new Insignia on the grid soon.

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Originally Posted by Mark

Both brands have an image problem. Vauxhall is seen as being downmarket and somewhat crap and Chevrolet is seen as being American, downmarket and even more crap. They both need motorsport to boost their image!

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This is the crux of the argument as I see it. Vauxhall by virtue of leaving the BTCC now have nothing to back up their "halo" cars with. Currently, Vauxhall in the UK has about the same street cred as Opel in Germany.

VXR may as well mean the same thing as GTI and those three letters have appeared on everything from the VW Golf to the Suzuki Swift. Without a national TV audience then there's not really any credence to the brand, and as such the rest of the lineup doesn't bask in that glow.

Do Chevrolet even have performance variants on sale? At least Vauxhaul had the VXR range.

http://www.corvette-europe.com
The Chevrolet Corvette is seemingly sold through Europe under its own "branding" I guess.

http://www.chevrolet.co.uk
Just to add futher confusion to all of this, the Camaro is listed as a concept car on the UK Chevrolet website, despite it being developed by Holden in Australia, who build the VXR8.

We even get in Australia a car called an HSV VXR, which is a VXR Astra.
http://www.hsv.com.au/vxr/index.asp
The weird thing is finding HSV, VXR and OPC logos on components under the bonnet. They may as well call the car the OMFGWTFBBQ.

Regretting their decision eh? Could that have soemthing to do with Chevy comign in as a Manufacturer entry and Honda returning after a 6 year absence.

That was a big factor in them pulling out wasnt it, lack of manufacturer teams?

I honestly thought Vauxhall would of gone rallying again with MSD and their Corsa S2000.
Would be good to see a 2.0T Astra in BTCC if they come back

I'd personally like to see a BTCC Insignia - The VXR version looks immense!