Vauxhall marketing chief moves to GM European role

Vauxhall Motors UK marketing chief Dean Barrett is moving to a senior job at parent company GM.

Barrett, who has been in his role for four years, is moving to be brand and product liaison director for GM Europe, with a brief to oversee co-operation between the Vauxhall brand and Opel, as the brand is known in the rest of Europe.

Andy Gilson, who is retail sales director at Vauxhall, is replacing Barrett. Gilson has worked in a variety of roles for GM. He reports to Bill Parfitt, executive director sales, marketing and aftersales.

Appointed in 2000 (MW March 9, 2000), Barrett revamped Vauxhall’s marketing and in 2002 appointed Delaney Lund Knox Warren as a rival roster advertising agency alongside incumbent Lowe to compete for Vauxhall’s £60m spend model by model.

Following a marketing restructure initiated by GM Europe marketing chief Jonathan Browning, the £97m UK media buying and planning for all GM-owned brands was consolidated into Initiative Media (MW September 11, 2003).

In May, Vauxhall launches the new Astra, which will compete head on with the new Volkswagen Golf and Ford’s best-selling Focus. Later in the summer, Vauxhall will also launch an affordable two-seater roadster to replace the defunct Tigra.

According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Vauxhall has the second-biggest market share in the UK, holding 12.7 per cent of new car sales, compared with arch rival Ford’s 14.7 per cent during 2003.