"The two are inextricably linked," Stephen Norman, who takes over as Vauxhall managing director on Feb. 1, told reporters on Thursday.

"If we manage to make a radical improvement in Vauxhall's fortunes in the UK and my future colleagues in Opel across the continent do the same in their markets, particularly in Germany, then there will be a requirement not only for every possible unit of production that we've got but maybe even more besides," he said.

Sales in Britain, traditionally Opel-Vauxhall's biggest market, fell 22 percent in 2017, compared with an overall market decline of 5.7 percent, according to industry data.

(Reporting by Costas Pitas; editing by Stephen Addison)