Opel Automobile GmbH (German pronunciation:[ˈoːpl̩]), usually shortened toOpel, is a Germanautomobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary ofStellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automakerGeneral Motors from 1929 until 2017 and thePSA Group prior to its merger withFiat Chrysler Automobiles to form Stellantis in 2021. Most of the Opel lineup is marketed under theVauxhall brand in the United Kingdom since the 1980s. Some Opel vehicles werebadge-engineered in Australia under theHolden brand until 2020, in North America and China under theBuick,Saturn (until 2010), andCadillac brands, and in South America under theChevrolet brand.
Opel traces its roots to a sewing machine manufacturer founded byAdam Opel in 1862 inRüsselsheim am Main. The company began manufacturing bicycles in 1886 and produced its first automobile in 1899. With theOpel RAK program, the world's first rocket program, under the leadership ofFritz von Opel, the company played an important role in the history of aviation and spaceflight: Various land speed records were achieved, and the world's first rocket-powered flights were performed in 1928 and 1929. After listing on the stock market in 1929, General Motors took a majority stake in Opel and then full control in 1931, making the automaker a wholly ownedsubsidiary, establishing an American ownership of the German automaker for nearly 90 years.[1] Together with British manufacturerVauxhall Motors, which GM had acquired in 1925, the two companies formed the backbone of GM's European operations – later merged formally in the 1980s asGeneral Motors Europe.
In March 2017, PSA Peugeot Citroën agreed to acquire Opel, the British twin sister brand Vauxhall and the European auto lending business from General Motors for €2 billion ($2.3 billion), making the French automaker the second biggest in Europe, afterVolkswagen.[8]
Opel is still headquartered in Rüsselsheim am Main. The company designs, engineers, manufactures, and distributes Opel-branded passenger vehicles, light commercial vehicles, and vehicle parts; together with its British sister marque Vauxhall, they are present in over 60 countries around the world.[9]
The company was founded inRüsselsheim,Hesse, Germany, on 21 January 1862, by German-French[10] entrepreneurAdam Opel. In the beginning, Opel producedsewing machines. Opel[11] launched a new product in 1886: he began to sell high-wheelbicycles, also known aspenny-farthings. Opel's two sons participated in high-wheel bicycle races, thus promoting this means of transportation. In 1888, production was relocated from a cowshed to a more spacious building in Rüsselsheim. The production of high-wheel bicycles soon exceeded the production of sewing machines.[12] At the time of Opel's death in 1895, he was the leader in both markets.
The first cars were designed in 1898 after Opel's widowSophie and their two eldest sons entered into a partnership with Friedrich Lutzmann, a locksmith at the court inDessau inSaxony-Anhalt, who had been working on automobile designs for some time.[13][14] The first Opel production Patent Motor Car was built in Rüsselsheim early 1899, although these cars were not very successful (A total of 65 motor cars were delivered: eleven in 1899, twenty-four in 1900 and thirty in 1901) and the partnership was dissolved after two years, following which Opel signed a licensing agreement in 1901 with the FrenchAutomobiles Darracq France to manufacture vehicles under the brand name Opel Darracq. These cars consisted of Opel bodies mounted on Darracq chassis, powered by two-cylinder engines.
The company first showed cars of its design at the 1902HamburgMotor Show. Production began in 1906, with the licensedOpel Darracq version discontinued in 1907.[15][16]
The company's factory was destroyed by fire in 1911, and a new facility was built with more up-to-date machinery.
Opel's cars were initially tested on public roads, leading to complaints about noise and road damage. Under public pressure, Opel began construction of a test oval in 1917. The track was completed in 1919, but not open to the public until 24 October 1920 under the official name ofOpel-Rennbahn (Opel Race Track).[17]
Opel RAK.1 – world's first public flight of a manned rocket-powered plane on 30 September 1929Opel Admiral convertible (1937–1939)Opel Kapitän (1938–1940)
In the early 1920s, Opel became the first German car manufacturer to build automobiles with a mass-production assembly line. In 1924, they used their assembly line to produce a new open two-seater called theLaubfrosch (Tree frog). The Laubfrosch was finished exclusively in green lacquer. The car sold for an expensive 3,900 marks (expensive considering the less expensive manufacturing process), but by the 1930s, this type of vehicle would cost a mere 1,930 marks – due in part to the assembly line, but also due to the skyrocketing demand for cars. Adam Opel led the way for motorised transportation to become not just a means for the rich, but also a reliable way for people of all classes to travel.
Opel had a 37.5% market share in Germany and was the country's largest automobile exporter in 1928. The "Regent" – Opel's first eight-cylinder car – was offered. The RAK 1 and RAK 2 rocket-propelled cars made sensational record-breaking runs.
Opel as a company and its co-ownerFritz von Opel, grandson of Adam Opel, were instrumental in popularizing rocket propulsion for vehicles and have an important place in the history of spaceflight and rocket technology. In the 1920s, Fritz von Opel initiated together withMax Valier, co-founder of the "Verein für Raumschiffahrt", the world's first rocket program,Opel-RAK, leading to speed records for automobiles, rail vehicles and the first manned rocket-powered flight in September 1929.[18] Months earlier in 1928, one of his rocket-powered prototypes, the Opel RAK2, piloted by von Opel himself at the AVUS speedway in Berlin, reached a record speed of 238 km/h (148 mph) in front of 3,000 spectators and world media representatives, includingFritz Lang, director ofMetropolis andWoman in the Moon, world boxing championMax Schmeling, and many other sports and show business celebrities. A world speed record for rail vehicles was reached with RAK3 at a top speed of 256 km/h (159 mph).[19] After these successes, von Opel piloted the world's first public rocket-powered flight usingOpel RAK.1, a rocket plane designed byJulius Hatry.[20] World media reported these events, including Universal Newsreel in the US, causing "Raketen-Rummel" or "Rocket Rumble" immense global public excitement, particularly in Germany, where, among others,Wernher von Braun was highly influenced.[21]
Friedrich Sander, Opel RAK technician August Becker and Opel employee Karl Treber (from right to left) in front of liquid-fuel rocket-plane prototype while test operation at Opel Rennbahn in Rüsselsheim
Opel RAK became enthralled with liquid propulsion, building and testing them in the late 1920s in Rüsselsheim. According toMax Valier's account, Opel RAK rocket designer,Friedrich Wilhelm Sander launched two liquid-fuel rockets at Opel Rennbahn inRüsselsheim on 10 and 12 April 1929. These Opel RAK rockets were the first European, and after Goddard, the world's second, liquid-fuel rockets in history. In his bookRaketenfahrt Valier describes the size of the rockets as of 21 cm (8.3 in) in diameter and with a length of 74 cm (29 in), weighing 7 kg (15 lb) empty and 16 kg (35 lb) with fuel. The maximum thrust was 45 to 50 kp, with a total burning time of 132 seconds. These properties indicate a gas pressure pumping. The first missile rose so quickly that Sander lost sight of it. Two days later, a second unit was ready to go, Sander tied a 4,000-meter (13,000 ft)-long rope to the rocket. After 2,000 m (6,600 ft) of rope had been unwound, the line broke, and this rocket also disappeared in the area, probably near the Opel proving ground and racetrack in Rüsselsheim, the "Rennbahn". Sander and Opel also worked on an innovative liquid-propellant rocket engine for an anticipated flight across the English Channel. By May 1929, the engine produced a thrust of 200 kg (440 lb.) "for longer than fifteen minutes, and in July 1929, the Opel RAK collaborators were able to attain powered phases of more than thirty minutes for thrusts of 300 kg (660-lb.) at Opel's works in Rüsselsheim," again according to Max Valier's account.
TheGreat Depression led to an end of the Opel-RAK program, but Max Valier continued the efforts. After switching from solid-fuel to liquid-fuel rockets, he died while testing and is considered the first fatality of the dawning space age. Sander's technology was confiscated by the German military in 1935. He was forced to sell his company and was imprisoned for treason. He died in 1938.
In March 1929, General Motors (GM), impressed by Opel's modern production facilities, bought 80% of the company. The Opel family gained $33.3 million from the transaction. Subsequently, during 1935, a second factory was built atBrandenburg for the production of "Blitz" light trucks. In 1929 Opel licensed the design of the radicalNeander motorcycle and produced it as the Opel Motoclub in 1929 and 1930, using Küchen,J.A.P., andMotosacoche engines.Fritz von Opel attached solid-fuel rockets to his Motoclub in a publicity stunt, riding the rocket-boosted motorcycle at theAvus racetrack.[22]
After acquiring the remaining shares in 1931, General Motors had full ownership of Adam Opel AG and organized it as a wholly owned subsidiary. In 1935, Opel became the first German car manufacturer to produce over 100,000 vehicles annually. This was because of the popularity of theOpel P4 model. The sales price was 1,650 marks and the car had a 23 PS (17 kW) 1.1 L four-cylinder engine achieving a top speed of 85 km/h (53 mph).
Opel also produced the first mass-production vehicle in Germany with aself-supporting ("unibody") all-steel body, closely following the 1934Citroën Traction Avant. This was one of the most important innovations in automotive history.[23] Launched in 1935, theOlympia was light and its aerodynamics enhanced performance and fuel economy.
The 1930s was a decade of growth, and by 1937, with 130,267 cars produced. Opel's Rüsselsheim facility was Europe's top in terms of vehicle production, and ranking seventh worldwide.[24]
1938 saw the presentation of the highly successfulKapitän. With a 2.5 L six-cylinder engine, all-steel body, front independent suspension, hydraulic shock absorbers, hot-water heating (with electric blower), and central speedometer. 25,374 Kapitäns were made before the intensification ofWorld War II brought automotive manufacturing to a temporary stop in the autumn of 1940, by order of the government.
Opel automobile production ended in October 1940, after the company's American leadership had rejected an "invitation" to switch to munitions manufacture a few months earlier.[25] In 1942 Opel switched to wartime production, making aircraft parts and tanks. Truck manufacture continued at theBrandenburg plant, where the 3.6-literOpel Blitz truck had been built since 1938. These 3short tons (2.7 t) trucks were also built under license by Daimler-Benz inMannheim.[25]
After the end of the war, with theBrandenburg plant dismantled and transported to the Soviet Union, and 47% of the buildings in Rüsselsheim destroyed,[26] former Opel employees began to rebuild the Rüsselsheim plant. The first postwarOpel Blitz truck was completed on 15 July 1946 in the presence ofUnited States Army GeneralGeoffrey Keyes and other local leaders and press reporters.[26] Opel's Rüsselsheim plant also made Frigidaire refrigerators in the early post-war years.[27]
Opel GT This two seater sports car was introduced in 1968 and was produced until 1973.
During the 1970s and 1980s, the Vauxhall and Opel ranges were rationalised into one consistent range across Europe.
The 1973 version of theOpel Kadett was later rebadged in hatchback, saloon, and estate form as theVauxhall Chevette for the UK market, with German factories producing the Opel versions. TheOpel Ascona of this era was sold on the UK market (and made in British and continental factories) as theVauxhall Cavalier. Both of these cars had mild styling changes, as did the flagshipOpel Rekord andVauxhall Carlton saloon and estate ranges, which went on sale towards the end of the 1970s.
By the 1970s, Opel had emerged as the stronger of GM's two European brands; Vauxhall was the third-best-selling brand in Great Britain after theBritish Motor Corporation (laterBritish Leyland) but made only a modest impact elsewhere. The two companies were direct competitors outside of each other's respective home markets. Still, mirroring US automaker Ford's decision to merge its British and German subsidiaries in the late 1960s, GM followed the same precedent. Opel and Vauxhall had loosely collaborated before, but serious efforts to merge the two companies' operations and product families into one did not start until the 1970s – which had Vauxhall's complete product line replaced by vehicles built on Opel-based platforms – the only exception to the rule being theBedford CF panel van. This only solely Vauxhall design was marketed as an Opel on the continent. By the turn of the 1980s, the two brands were, in effect, the same.
Opel's first front-wheel drive car – the new version of the Kadett – entered production in 1979, initially built in Germany and Belgium. It was sold in the UK alongside the stronger-selling Vauxhall version – theAstra – which entered UK production in 1981.
During the 1970s, Opel expressed interest in building an additional production facility inSpain and eventually settled on a location nearZaragoza, intending to develop a new supermini for the 1980s there. The factory opened in 1982, and its first product was theOpel Corsa (imported to the UK as theVauxhall Nova from 1983).
The Ascona switched to front-wheel drive for an all-new General Motors J-Car global model format in 1981, with the Cavalier nameplate continuing for the UK market. The Kadett was revamped again in 1984, and became the company's first winner of theEuropean Car of the Year accolade. The Rekord's successor, theOpel Omega (still Vauxhall Carlton in the UK), achieved the same success two years later.
The long-running Ascona nameplate was discontinued in 1988, with its replacement being sold as theVectra, although the UK market version was still sold as the Vauxhall Cavalier. The Opel Manta coupe was also discontinued in 1988, with its Vectra-based successor, theCalibra, being launched the following year. Soon afterward, Opel launched a high-performance version of the Omega – the Lotus Omega (Lotus Carlton in the UK) – which featured Lotus-tuned suspension and had a top speed of 175 mph.
In the 1990s, Opel was considered GM's cash cow, with profit margins similar to Toyota's. Opel's profit helped to offset GM's losses in North America and to fund GM's expansion into Asia.[29] 1999 was the last time when Opel was profitable for an entire year after almost 20 years.[30]
The first major Opel launch of the 1990s was the 1991 Astra, which spelled the end for the Kadett nameplate that had debuted more than 50 years earlier. The company also turned toJapaneseIsuzu for its first SUV, theFrontera, which was also launched in 1991 but produced in Europe despite its Japanese origins. The largerMonterey joined the company's SUV line-up in 1994, but had been dropped from the UK and continental markets by 2000 due to disappointing sales.
At the end of 1992, the company unveiled a completely new Corsa, which, like the original model, was produced at the Zaragoza plant. This car carried the Corsa nameplate on the UK market as a Vauxhall.
A second generation Omega was launched in early 1994. It remained in production for a decade, but when production finished, there was no direct successor due to declining sales of executive saloon models from mainstream brands. A Corsa-based coupe, theTigra, was also launched around this time and lasted in production for six years.
The second generation Opel Vectra was launched in 1995, with the Vectra nameplate now extending to the Vauxhall version in the UK.
The first Opel MPV, theSintra, was launched in Europe in 1996, imported from the US where it was sold as aPontiac, but discontinued after three years due to disappointing sales. The Vauxhall-badged UK market version was also slated in motoring surveys for its dismal build quality and reliability.
1997 saw the demise of the Calibra coupe after an eight-year production, with no immediate replacement.
The Opel Astra hatchbacks, saloons, and estate were wholly revamped for 1998 and, within two years, had also spawned coupe and cabriolet versions, as well as a compact MPV, theZafira.
In 1999, Opel unveiled its first sports car, theSpeedster (Vauxhall VX220 in the UK). However, it was not a success and was discontinued in 2005. The company moved into the city car market in early 2000 with theAgila launch.
The third generation Opel Corsa was launched in 2000, followed by a new version of the Vectra in 2002 and the Astra in 2004.
Three generations of Vectra gave way to theInsignia in 2008, with the new model becoming the company's first European Car of the Year award winner for 22 years.
Following the 2008 global financial crisis and theChapter 11 reorganization of GM, on 10 September 2009, GM agreed to sell a 55% stake in Opel to a consortium includingMagna group andSberbank – with the approval of the German government. The deal was later called off.[31]
With ongoing restructuring plans, Opel announced the closure of itsAntwerp plant inBelgium by the end of 2010.[32]
In 2010, Opel announced that it would invest around€11 billion in the next five years.[33] €1 billion of that was designated solely for the development of innovative and fuel-saving engines and transmissions.[34]
On 29 February 2012, Opel announced the creation of a major alliance withPSA Peugeot Citroen, resulting in GM taking a 7% share of PSA, becoming PSA's second-largest shareholder after the Peugeot family. The alliance was intended to enable $2 billion per year of cost savings through platform sharing, common purchasing, and other economies of scale.[35] In December 2013, GM sold its 7% interest in PSA for £250 million, after plans of cost savings were not as successful.[36] Opel was said to be among Europe's most aggressive discounters in the market.[37] GM reported a 2016 loss of US$257 million from its European operations.[36] It is reported that GM has lost about US$20 billion in Europe since 1999.[38]
Opel's plant inBochum closed in December 2014, after 52 years of activity, due to overcapacity.[39]
Opel withdrew from China, where it had a network of 22 dealers, in early 2015[40] after General Motors decided to withdraw its Chevrolet brand from Europe starting in 2016.[41]
In March 2017, thePSA Group agreed to buy Opel, its British sister brandVauxhall and their European auto lending business fromGeneral Motors forUS$2.2 billion.[42][43] In return, General Motors will pay PSA US$3.2 billion for future European pension obligations and keep managing US$9.8 billion worth of plans for existing retirees. Furthermore, GM is responsible for paying about US$400 million annually for 15 years to fund the existing pension plans in Great Britain and Germany.[42]
In June 2017, Michael Lohscheller, Opel's chief financial officer, replaced Karl-Thomas Neumann as CEO.[44] The acquisition of Opel and Vauxhall was completed in August 2017.[5]
In the 2018 financial year, Opel achieved an operating income of €859 million. It was the first positive income since 1999.[45][46]
This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(June 2018)
Assembly plant inEisenachThe Opel Vectra C, in production from 2002 to 2008
Opel operates 10 vehicle, powertrain, and component plants and four development and test centres in six countries, and employs around 30,000 people in Europe. The brand sells vehicles in more than 60 markets worldwide. Other plants are inEisenach andKaiserslautern, Germany;Szentgotthárd, Hungary;Figueruelas, Spain;Gliwice, andTychy, Poland;Aspern, Austria;Ellesmere Port, andLuton, United Kingdom.[49] TheDudenhofen Test Center is located near the company's headquarters and is responsible for all technical testing and vehicle validations.
Around 6,250 people are responsible for the engineering and design of Opel/Vauxhall vehicles at the International Technical Development Center and European Design Center in Rüsselsheim.[50] All in all, Opel plays an important role in Stellantis' global R&D footprint.
The first Opel logo contained the letters "A" and "O" – the initials of the company's founder,Adam Opel. The A was in bronze, the O in red.
In 1866, Opel expanded and started to produce bicycles. Around 1890, the logo was completely redesigned. The new logo also contained the words "Victoria Blitz" (referring to Lady Victory; they were certain of the triumph of their bicycles). The word "Blitz" (English: lightning) first appeared back then, but without a depiction.
1910: the blue eye
Another redesign was commissioned in 1909. The new logo was much more spirited and contained only the company name Opel. It was placed on the motorcycles that they had started to produce in 1902, and on the first cars which were produced in 1909.
In 1910, the logo was the shape of an eye, and it was surrounded by laurels, with the text "Opel" in the centre.
From the mid-1930s to the 1960s, passenger cars carried a ring which was crossed by some kind of a flying thing pointing to the left, which in some form could be interpreted as azeppelin, the same flying object being used also as a forward-pointinghood ornament. In some versions, it looked like an arrow; in others, like an aeroplane or a bird.
Besides the hood ornament flying through the ring, Opel also used a coat of arms in various forms, which mostly had a combination of white and yellow colours in it, a shade of yellow which is typical for Opel until today. One was oval, half white and half yellow. The Opel writing was black and in the middle of the oval symbol.
The origin of the lightning in the Opel logo lies in the truck Opel Blitz (GermanBlitz = English "lightning"), which had been a commercial success, widely used also within theWehrmacht, Nazi Germany's military. Originally, the logo for this truck consisted of two stripes arranged loosely like a lightning symbol with the words "Opel" and "Blitz" in them, in later, 1950s models simplified to the horizontal form of lightning which appears in the current Opel logo. The jag in the lightning always follows the original from the "Opel Blitz" text stripes, in the form of a horizontally stretched letter "Z".
By the end of the 1960s, the two forms merged, and the horizontal lightning replaced the flying thing in the ring, giving way to the basic design which is used since then with variations. Through all its variations, this logo is simple and unique, and both easily recognisable and reproducible with just two strokes of a pen.
In the 1964 version, the lightning with a ring was used in a yellow rectangle, with the Opel writing below. The whole logo was again delimited by a black rectangle. The basic form and proportions of the Blitz logo have remained unchanged since the 1970 version, which made the lightning tails shorter so that the logo could fit proportionately within a yellow square, meaning it could be displayed next to the 'blue square' General Motors logo. In the mid-1970s, the Vauxhall "Griffin" logo was, in turn, resized and displayed within a corresponding red square, so that all three logos could be displayed together, thus signifying the unified GM Europe.
Evolution of hood ornament flying through ring
Hood ornament of the Opel Olympia (1935–37)
Hood ornament flying through the ring (1937)
Hood ornament of a 1937 Opel car, typical for many other Opels at the time
Logo on spare wheel cover of a 1938 Kapitän
Logo on the rear of a 1951 Kapitän
1959 Opel Kapitän
The lightning of the Opel Blitz replacing the hood ornament
Early 1950s Opel Blitz with words in horizontal lightning
1961 Opel Blitz with stylised horizontal lightning
Basic form of current logo on a 1968 Opel Blitz
Lightning in ring on a 1969 Opel Kapitän
The 1970-1987 version, the "Opel" script, was dropped in 1981.
In 2017, GM confirmed plans of a "hybrid global brand" which includes Vauxhall, Opel and Buick to use more synergies between the brands.[63][64] This plan was overridden by the sale of Vauxhall and Opel brands to PSA Peugeot Citroën.
Opel cars appeared under their own name in the U.S. from 1958 to 1975, when they were sold through Buick dealers ascaptive imports. The best-selling Opel models in the U.S. were the 1964 to 1972 Opel Kadett, the 1971 to 1975Opel Manta, and the 1968 to 1973Opel GT.[65][66] (The name "Opel" was also applied from 1976 to 1980 to vehicles manufactured byIsuzu (similar to the "Isuzu I-Mark"), but mechanically those were entirely different cars).
Historically, Opel vehicles have also been sold at various times in the North American market as either heavily modified, or "badge-engineered" models under the Chevrolet, Buick,Pontiac, Saturn, andCadillac brands – for instance theJ-body platform, which was largely developed by Opel – was the basis of North American models such as theChevrolet Cavalier andCadillac Cimarron. Below is a list of the most recent Opel models which were sold under GM's North American brands.
Buick Regal (fifth generation, 2009–2017, and sixth generation, 2018–2020)
The last two generations of the Buick Regal have been rebadged versions of the Opel Insignia.[67] The main differences are the modified radiator grill and the altered colour of the passenger compartment illumination (blue instead of red). The Regal GS is comparable to the Insignia OPC. The 5th generation Buick Regal was first assembled alongside the Insignia at the Opel plant in Rüsselsheim. In the first quarter of 2011, it began to be built on the flexible assembly line at the GM plant in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.[68] All 6th generation Buick Regals were built alongside the Insignia at the Opel plant in Rüsselsheim, Germany.
Unlike the vehicles listed above, theBuick LaCrosse was not a rebadged version of an Opel model. However, it was based on a long-wheelbase version of the Opel-developedEpsilon II-platform, so shared many key components with the Opel Insignia and thereby the Buick Regal.
TheSaturn L-Series was a modified version of the Opel Vectra B. Though the Saturn had different exterior styling and had plastic door panels, it shared the same body shape as the Opel. Both cars rode on theGM2900 platform. The Saturn also had a different interior, yet shared some interior parts, such as the inside of the doors.
Opel Vectra B Sedan
Saturn L-Series Sedan
Saturn VUE (2nd generation, 2008–2010), Chevrolet Captiva Sport
The second generation of the Saturn VUE, introduced in 2007 for the 2008 model year, was a rebadged version of the German-designedOpel Antara, manufactured in Mexico. After the demise of the Saturn brand, the VUE was discontinued, but the car continued to be produced and sold as Chevrolet Captiva Sport in Mexican and South American markets. The Chevrolet Captiva Sport was introduced for the US commercial and fleet markets in late 2011 for the 2012 model.
From 1986 to 2003, Opel models were produced byDelta Motor Corporation, a company created through a management buyout following of GM'sdivestment fromapartheid South Africa. Delta assembled the Opel Kadett, with the sedan version called the Opel Monza. This was replaced by theOpel Astra, although the Kadett name was retained for the hatchback and considered a separate model. A version of theRekord Series E remained in production after the model had been replaced by theOmega in Europe, as was aCommodore model unique to South Africa, combining the bodyshell of the Rekord with the front end of the revised Senator. The Opel Corsa was introduced in 1996, with kits of theBrazilian-designed sedan and pick-up (known inSouth African English as abakkie) being locally assembled.
Although GM's passenger vehicle line-up in South Africa consisted of Opel-based models by the late 1970s, these were sold under the Chevrolet brand name, with only theKadett being marketed as an Opel when it was released in 1980. In 1982, the Chevrolet brand name was dropped, with theAscona,Rekord,Commodore, andSenator being rebadged as Opels.
Many Opel models or models based on Opel architectures have been sold in Australia and New Zealand under the Holden marque, such as the Holden Barina (1994–2005), which were rebadged versions of the Opel Corsa, theHolden Astra, a version of the Opel Astra, and the Captiva 5, a version of theOpel Antara. In New Zealand, the Opel Kadett and Ascona were sold as niche models byGeneral Motors New Zealand in the 1980s, while the Opel brand was used on the Opel Vectra until 1994.
For the first time ever, the Opel brand was introduced to Australia on 1 September 2012, including the Corsa, Astra, Astra GTC, andInsignia models.[71][72] On 2 August 2013, Opel announced it was ending exports to Australia due to poor sales, with only 1,530 vehicles sold in the first ten months.[73][74]
After the closure of Opel Australia, Holden imported newer Opel models such as the Astra GTC (ceased 1 May 2017), Astra VXR (Astra OPC), Cascada (ceased 1 May 2017), and Insignia VXR (Insignia OPC, ceased 1 May 2017), under the Holden badge.[75] The 2018 5th-genHolden Commodore ZB is a badge-engineered Opel Insignia, replacing the Australian-made, rear-wheel-driveCommodore with the German-made front-wheel/all-wheel-drive Insignia platform; however this model is no longer offered since the closure of Holden.
Opel returned to the New Zealand market in 2022, backed by the existing importer of the Peugeot and Citroën brands.[76][77] Opel's New Zealand model line-up consists of the Corsa, Mokka, Astra and Grandland models, with the first two in both electric and petrol drivetrains.[78]
Opel's presence in China recommenced in 2012 with the Antara, and added the Insignia estate in 2013.[79] Opel-derived models are also sold as Buick. On 28 March 2014, Opel announced that it would leave China in 2015.[80]
Opel was long General Motors' strongest marque inJapan, with sales peaking at 38,000 in 1996. However, the brand was withdrawn from the Japanese market in December 2006, with just 1,800 sales there in 2005.[81] Since then, Opel has not sold any cars or SUVs in Japan. Opel has been back on the Japanese market since 2022.[82]
Opel was marketed inMalaysia beginning from the 1970s, and early models exported were Kadett,Gemini, andManta. Opel had moderate sales from the 1980s until the early 2000s, when Malaysian car buyers favoured Japanese and Korean brand cars such asToyota,Honda,Hyundai (Inokom) andKia (Naza), which offered more competitive prices. Sales of Opel cars in Malaysia were dropped then, as Opel's prices were slightly higher than the same-segment Japanese, Korean, and localProton andPerodua cars, and they were hard to maintain, had bad aftersales services, and spare parts were not readily available.
Opel was withdrawn from Malaysian market in 2003, and the last models sold were the Zafira, Astra, and Vectra, and the rebadgedIsuzu MU as the Frontera, later replaced by Chevrolet.
Opel India Pvt Ltd (OIPL) was founded in 1996 and gave the average Indian car buyers their first choice of (somewhat) affordable German engineering with the Astra sedan. Opel was withdrawn from the Indian market in 2006, replaced by Chevrolet.
Since 1938, the country has been producing Opels in a General Motors-owned plant since 1938. The plant was nationalized in 1957. In 1995, General Motors invested a new manufacturing plant in Indonesia, producing the Opel Astra (as Opel Optima), Opel Vectra, andChevrolet Blazer (as Opel Blazer).[83] The latter was proved a sales success in the country.[84] In 2002, the Opel brand was replaced by the global Chevrolet brand.[85]
Since the 1970s, Opel cars were imported along withHolden cars by Universal Motors Thailand and Asoke Motors. Among the models imported were theOpel Rekord,Holden Torana, and theOpel Olympia. They were replaced by Phranakorn Yontrakarn (PNA) as the exclusive distributor of Opel cars in Thailand in the mid-1980s. PNA imported theKadett,Astra,Vectra,Omega, and theCalibra to Thailand. TheCorsa B was one of the more popular Opel models sold by PNA in the 1990s. In the mid to late 1990s,General Motors Thailand took over from PNA in the overseeing of sales and distribution of Opel cars in the country, with plans to build an assembly plant inRayong to manufacture theZafira for the domestic and export markets. However, due to the onset of theAsian financial crisis, the Opel brand was phased out from the Thai market in 2000 and was replaced byChevrolet. TheZafira A, by then rebadged as a Chevrolet, went on sale in May 2000, to considerable success.
Opel was one of the most popular non-Japanese car brands in the country during the 1970s and the 1980s alongside Ford, but left the Filipino market in 1985 as a result of the economic crisis at that time. GM Philippines returned with the Opel brand in 1997, and started selling theVectra,Omega and later theTigra andAstra. Sales were good years after its introduction but Opel still struggled as Japanese manufacturers dominated the local automobile market. GM Philippines withdrew the brand by 2004–2005 due to poor sales. The last cars sold by Opel in the country before leaving the Philippine market were the Astra and theZafira A (Which was being sold under the Chevrolet brand). The Opel brand was later replaced by Chevrolet's lineup.
In the 1980s, Kadett E and Omega A were imported to the Taiwanese market but the dealers imported base models and modified them with unstable quality. The CAC company became the sole import agent of Opel in Taiwan and the models were later manufacturing and sold the Astra F and Vectra B in the market. However, CAC went bankrupt in the late 1990s and stopped manufacturing Opel cars. GM Taiwan and then Yulon GM, a joint venture between Yulong and General Motors, kept importing and selling Astra G/H, Corsa B/C, Omega B, and Zafira A/B in Taiwan until 2012.[86][87][88] In 2022, Master Win Group relaunched Opel in the Taiwanese market.[89]
Several Opel models were sold across Latin America, mainly Brazil and Argentina, for decades with Chevrolet development badges and its derivatives, including the Corsa, Kadett, Astra, Vectra, Omega, Meriva, and Zafira. In the early 2010s, the Chevrolet line-up changed to adopt North American models such as the Spark, Sonic, and Cruze, or local, own Brazilian development models like the Cobalt, Celta, Onix, Spin, and Agile - of which the Onix, Cobalt, and Spin are still produced. This ended once Opel came under Stellantis ownership.
In the 1980s, Opel became the sole GM brand name in Ireland, with the Vauxhall brand having been dropped.[91] Vauxhall's Managing Director has also been Opel Ireland's Chief Executive since 2015.[92]
There were two Opel-franchised assembly plants inIreland in the 1960s. One inRingsend,Dublin, was operated by Reg Armstrong Motors, which also assembledNSU cars and motorcycles. The second assembly plant was based inCork and operated by O'Shea's, which also assembledŠkoda cars andZetor tractors. The models assembled were the Kadett and the Rekord. From 1966, the Admiral was imported as a fully built unit and became a popular seller.
From the late 1930s to the 1980s, terms from theGerman Navy (Kapitän,Admiral,Kadett) and from other official sectors (Diplomat,Senator) were often used as model names. Since the late 1980s, the model names of Opel passenger cars end with an a. As Opels were no longer being sold in Great Britain, the need to have separate model names for essentially identical Vauxhall and Opel cars (although some exceptions were made to suit the British market) was made redundant. The last series to be renamed across the two companies was the Opel Kadett, being the only Opel to take the name of its Vauxhall counterpart, as Opel Astra. Although only two generations of Astra were built prior to the 1991 model, the new car was referred to across Europe as the Astra F, referring to its Kadett lineage. Until 1993, the Opel Corsa was known as the Vauxhall Nova in Great Britain, as Vauxhall had initially felt that Corsa sounded too much like "coarse", and would not catch on.
Exceptions to the nomenclature of ending names with an "a" include the under-licence builtMonterey, theSpeedster (also known as theVauxhall VX220 in Great Britain),GT (which was not sold at all as a Vauxhall, despite the VX Lightning concept), theSignum,Karl, and theAdam. The Adam was initially supposed to be called, "Junior" as was its developmental codename and because the name 'Adam' had no history/importance to the Vauxhall marque.
Similar to the passenger cars, the model names of commercial vehicles end with an o (Combo, Vivaro, Movano), except the Corsavan and Astravan.
Another unique aspect to Opel nomenclature is its use of the "Caravan" (originally styled as 'Car-A-Van') name to denote itsstation wagon body configuration, (similar to Volkswagen'sVariant or Audi'sAvant designations), a practice the company observed for many decades, which finally ceased with the 2008 Insignia and 2009 Astra, where the name "Sports Tourer" is now used for the estate/station wagon versions.
Frontera (A rebadgedCitroën C3 Aircross) (Was previously a rebadgedIsuzu MU from 1991 to 2004) (Production: 1991–2004 (original), 2024–present (revival))
Mid-size SUV (original) Subcompact crossover SUV (revival)
Combo (A rebadgedPeugeot Partner/Citroën Berlingo) (Was previously a panel van version of theOpel Kadett from 1986 to 1993) (Was previously a panel van version of theOpel Corsa from 1993 to 2006) (Was previously a rebadgedFiat Doblò from 2012 to 2018) (Production: 1986–present)
In the 1990s, Opel took part in theDeutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft and the succeeding International Touring Car Championship, and won the1996 championship with theCalibra. The brand also participated in theSuper Tourenwagen Cup in the 1990s, winning the manufacturers' title in1998.[93][94] Opel took part in the revivedGerman DTM race series between 2000 and 2005 with theAstra andVectra models, but after winning several races in 2000, it struggled for results afterwards and never won the championship. However, Opel won theNürburgring 24 Hours with the Astra in 2003.
In 2014, Opel presented a road-legal sport version of the Adam R2 Rally Car – theOpel Adam S[96] – powered by a 1.4 L turbocharged engine which generates 150 HP. The car makes 0–100 km/h in just 8.5 seconds.
In 2019 at IAA, Opel presented the Corsa Rally Electric, an electric rally car for customer motor sport. Together with ADAC, Europe's largest automobile association, Opel has started the ADAC Opel Electric Rally Cup, the first rally brand cup for electric cars in the world in 2021. The charging infrastructure uses renewably generated electricity from the public power grid. In 2023, teams from seven nations took part in eight races in Germany, Austria, France and Switzerland. The electric motor, battery, inverter, and onboard charger come from the Corsa production vehicle. In 2024, the cup will enter its fourth season.
^'Ernst Neumann-Neander und seine Motorrädder', Trapp, 1996, Heel AG, Schindellegi Schweiz.ISBN3-89365-546-8
^Nieuwenhuis, Paul; Wells, Peter E. (8 August 2003).The Automotive Industry and the Environment (First ed.). Woodhead Publishing. p. 109.ISBN978-1855737136.
^abLudvigsen, Karl E. (1975).Opel: wheels to the world; a seventy-five year history of automobile manufacture. Princeton Publishing. p. 55.ISBN0-915038-01-3.
^abMartin, F.A.E. (December 1946). "Das Alte stürzt...Es aendert sich die Zeit...und neues Leben blüht aus den Ruinen".Das Auto. Vol. 1. pp. 2–3.
^Mazzocchi, Gianni, ed. (April 1984). "Autonotizie: Anche la Opel si dà al turbo" [Car News: Opel too with turbo].Quattroruote (in Italian). Vol. 29, no. 342. Milan, Italy. p. 108.
^abcNote: The powertrain plantOpel Wien GmbH inAspern/Vienna (Austria) is not a subsidiary ofAdam Opel AG but a first-tier subsidiary ofGeneral Motors Europe Limited (GME) (99.5%) and ofGM AUTOMOTIVE UK (GMAUK) (0.5%), see"Opel Wien GmbH, FN 110500a". FirmenABC Marketing GmbH. Retrieved3 April 2017. Both, GME and GMAUK, are located in Luton.GME Ltd. itself is a daughter company ofGM CME Holdings CV, which is directly controlled by theGeneral Motors Corporation (GMC), see"Name: GENERAL MOTORS EUROPE LIMITED, Company Number: 07556915". Company search, Made Simple Group Ltd. Retrieved3 April 2017.
^General Motors Austria Gesellschaft m.b.H. (GMA, founded 1963 as sales organisation; from 1979: Administration, Non-productive Departments an Sales) and General Motors Austria Werke Gesellschaft m.b.H. (GMAW founded 1979; Production). In November 1987 GMAW (AustrianHandelsregister, HRB 24.436) were merged into GMA (HRB 20.133b, actual Firmenbuch FN 110500a).
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