The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has reasserted Vauxhall’s claim of being a “British Brand since 1903” in its latest TV marketing campaign.

Viewers wrote to the advertising watchdog to challenge the statement, which appeared at the end of a recent advert of the new Corsa hatchback, in light of Vauxhall’s previous US owner General Motors (GM) and current French owner Stellantis.

After Vauxhall Motors Ltd issued a response stating that the Vauxhall brand was a UK-registered entity, which bult cars in Britain and sold Vauxhall-branded vehicles exclusively in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the ASA rebuffed the claims, however.

Vauxhall said in its statement that it had always built vehicles in Britain, adding that the fact that Vauxhall’s parent company, Stellantis was neither British nor based in the UK did not change the fact that Vauxhall was a British brand, the ASA said

Despite uncertainty surrounding the future of the Astra-producing Ellesmere car plant for a number of years, the ASA said Stellantis had “maintained their support for Vauxhall as a British entity so much that Vauxhall was now making a profit under its new owners”.

It added: “Current and previous owners had recognised the value of maintaining a British manufacturing base with British workforce and a sales and marketing effort geared to maintaining the Britishness and success of the brand.”

Business Live reported yesterday (April 6) that Stellantis had dismissed suggestions that a decision on the future of the Ellesmere Port site could be made this week as "speculation".

In its ruling against the complaints directed at Vauxhall’s TV advertising campaign for the new Corsa, the ASA said that the brand’s successive foreign ownership “did not change the fact that the brand was established in and exclusively sold in the UK, adding that it “maintained offices and manufacturing operations in the country, thus contributing to the national economy”.