Vauxhall Motors Limited is a British Automobile manufacturer subsidiary of French car manufacturer Groupe PSA. Vauxhall was founded by Alexander Wilson in 1857 and began manufacturing cars in 1903. Very quickly, the company gained a reputation for racing with the Prince Henry model, which was based on a winning race car. Later, it was acquired by American automaker General Motors (GM) in 1925. Bedford Vehicles was established as a subsidiary of Vauxhall in 1930 to manufacture commercial vehicles. It was a luxury car brand until it was bought by General Motors, who thereafter built mid-market offerings. From the time of the Great Depression, Vauxhall became increasingly mass-market. American styling made it into the brand with the Vauxhall Velox in 1949. Since 1980, Vauxhall products have been essentially identical to those of Opel. During the early 1980s, the Vauxhall brand was withdrawn from sale in all countries apart from the UK. At various times during its history, Vauxhall has been active in motorsports, including rallying and the British Touring Car Championship. Notable performance models include the Monaro and VXR8 with their massive V8 engines. After 92 years under GM's ownership, Vauxhall was sold to Groupe PSA in 2017.