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The main account is currently held by Lowe, its agency of 18 years, and the move follows the demise of its Griff Rhys-Jones advertising campaign and a recent reshuffle of the account team's leadership.

The UK's number two carmaker is believed to have been disappointed with the chilly reception that greeted the agency's long-running campaign. It is reviewing its brand communications strategy under the leadership of Kevin Wale, who took over as managing director from chairman Nick Reilly last year. However, in a statement, the company said Lowe would remain its lead agency and that the review "in no way reflects dissatisfaction" with Lowe.

The Rhys-Jones campaign was launched in early 2000 by the then marketing operations director Andy Jones. Pulled in April, along with the slogan "Raising the standard", the campaign featured Rhys-Jones as an eccentric Y-front-wearing professor and was a flop with critics and consumers alike. The company is currently running stop-gap work under the strapline, "Handles life beautifully".

Vauxhall hired Lowe to handle through-the-line advertising for its cars in 1984 and handed the agency its aftersales, retail and vans advertising business, estimated at £15m, when it consolidated advertising in 2000.

Lowe will handle the launch of a new Vectra model slated for release this summer and to be backed by what is said to be the company’s largest advertising campaign to date.

The General Motors-owned marque, which ranked sixth in Marketing's annual review of the top 100 UK advertisers for 2001, has been plagued by sluggish sales and next week is shutting down car production at its Luton plant.

General Motors' European division posted an annual loss of £780m for 2001, of which around £50m is thought to have stemmed from Vauxhall, with the bulk coming from its Opel division headquartered in Germany.

Vauxhall's market share, which had been rebounding after a slump, dipped again last year from 13.6% to 12.61%, according to new car registration figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

Media buying and planning, currently held by Initiative, is unaffected by the review.

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