Vauxhall Iron Works built pumps and marine engines until 1903 when it started making cars, even some sporting ones, but the market vanished after the first World War and General Motors took the Griffin under its own wing in 1925. Vauxhall moved from the Vauxhall district of London to Luton where its main factory was built with a satellite factory at Ellesmere Port on Merseyside. From then on General Motors exerted a heavy influence on the British brand, which The General considered to be a rival for its German office of Opel. However, Detroit had control on designs, and products on both sides of the English Channel often suffered from American styling. Vauxhall survived until the War, after which they exerted some autonomy albeit with American-looking designs because only those were likely to be signed off by Detroit. By the 1960s Detroit was regarding Opel and Vauxhall to be one operation and gradually the two ranges moved closer until the failure of Vauxhall to design an acceptable Vauxhall Viva HD caused GM to impose the Opel Ascona onto Luton as the Vauxhall cavalier. After that each new Vauxhall had an almost identical sibling wearing a different badge in another country; Vauxhalls were simply British-badged Opels.