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A very long time ago, the French tried to horn in on the North American continent but we, the British, saw them off only to be unceremoniously kicked out ourselves. Honestly, King George III wasn?t such a bad chap once you got to know him. Obviously, at the time, he was considered to be as mad as a box of frogs but it turns out he suffered from Porphyria, a terrible recurrent illness that accounted for his kaleidoscope of changing views.
Whatever.
Thriving Factories & Prosperous Futures
History shows that even without our help, America managed to get an automobile industry started, culminating, among others, in an organization called General Motors.
Meanwhile, back in Britain, we had our own flourishing car factories redolent with famous names. One of these names was Vauxhall. Founded in 1857 as an industrial manufacturer, the company started making cars in 1903. It is thus one of the oldest car makers in the UK and still ranks high in sales. In short, it is a British success story. When I say British, I mean of course, American. The company was acquired by GM decades ago. Nevermind, the cars are still made on these septic isles and models like the Astra and Corsa have been consistently on the bestsellers lists. The future looked bright.
Vauxhall Astra. Photo: Vauxhall.
Storm Clouds
But all was not well. In fact, the General Motors’ European arm (including the German Opel brand) has been hemorrhaging money f...