Opel looking to expand globally (including Australia)

[GreyRex]

Interesting...

The CEO of General Motors’ German Opel unit says he is looking to increase the number of products the company offers in markets outside of its core European market in an effort to rapidly expand its business, but perhaps the brand’s biggest roadblock is internal competition from other GM units also doing business abroad.

Opel CEO Nick Reilly says that his brand is intending to launch or re-launch itself in markets in South America and Australia and to increase its presence in South Africa and China partially to offset weak sales in Europe.
“We are considering introducing or re-introducing Opel in a series of markets,” Reilly told Berlin’s Tagesspiegel newspaper.
Currently, Opels are sold in few markets outside of Europe, although Opel-designed and assembled cars are rebadged with other GM brand names, like Chevrolet (http://www.leftlanenews.com/chevrolet.htm) and Holden
It’s unclear just where Opel would fit in a number of the markets Reilly named, most notably Australia and Brazil, lucrative markets where GM’s Holden and Chevrolet brands offer similarly priced and sized products. In fact, several South American Chevrolet models are merely rebadged Opel products.
Growth in China
General Motors is already a large player in China, where some Opel-designed vehicles are rebadged as Chevrolet and Buick (http://www.leftlanenews.com/buick.htm) models, but Reilly says that the German brand thinks there is room for more.
Last year, Opel sold just 3,000 Corsa, Meriva and Zafira models in China, the world’s largest car market. Reilly says that Opel could expand its offerings to include more models – most likely its hot-selling Astra and Insignia.
“We wouldn’t suddenly sell 200,000 cars in China,” Reilly said, later adding that “Opel’s image in China is strong but our product range is too small.”

Source: http://www.leftlanenews.com/opel-looking-to-expand-global-presence-but-much-product-overlap-possible.html

[guy 27]

I think it would be a smart move.

If they can keep the prices down to compete with some of the Japanese cars that are available on the market, I am sure they will get quite a few sales.

Plus could you imagine the growth on this forum.

[poita]

One white Insignia VXR wagon for me please :D


nom nom nom nom

[Keep'emRunning]

one corsa vxr for me thanks.

[jastra]

I reckon I would b pretty cool to have opels sold as opels in Australia only thing is we won't exactly be uniqe anymore. Hmm

[GreyRex]

I reckon I would b pretty cool to have opels sold as opels in Australia only thing is we won't exactly be uniqe anymore. Hmm

And heaven forbid we might have a Service Department who actually know what our cars are lol

[adam_92]

i only hope they do what they are planning and its not just another thing that they would like 2 do that never happens.

[btm]

one corsa vxr for me thanks.
am i the only one that doesnt really like the corsa d? saw heaps of them in the flesh in south africa and it doesnt really do anything for me...

vw scirocco on the other hand... PORN!

[jastra]

Hmm yeh true that and won't charge us ridiculous prices

[poita]

Hmm yeh true that and won't charge us ridiculous prices

would only shoot emselves in the foot doing that

if they want to re-introduce the brand they need to do it smartly by being competetive with the rest of the market

[Ice]

And heaven forbid we might have a Service Department who actually know what our cars are lol

haha Halleiluiah (or however its spelt) to that !

[gmonkey]

One Opel gt speedster for me pleas

[gmonkey]

If they do come here I will be applying for a job in their sales department :)

[Vectracious]

Apart from things like the Insignia/Astra/Corsa which are a given if they decide to start up in Australia, the Zafira and the Meriva are good models to bring over as well. The Zafira always gets good writeups in the overseas media (mainly due to its Flex-7 seating) and the Meriva is a great little car - I drove one a lot around France a couple of years ago and fell in love with it - you get heaps of space for a young family and an highish and upright driving position which a lot of mums might feel good about and possibly stop them from getting another 4WD*

* yes there is a difference between a Landcruiser and a Meriva, but you do feel like you are higher up than what you really are.

[PrincessPeachey]

am i the only one that doesnt really like the corsa d? saw heaps of them in the flesh in south africa and it doesnt really do anything for me...


regular d's i don't like that much, but vxr's are quite nice. although for me it would be a tough choice between the corsa vxr and the insignia vxr... mmmm vxr button

[adam_92]

what is the chances of this happening though? i meen are GM really gonna have 2 of there companys in competition

[PrincessPeachey]

Look at the US, Adam. Until recently they had how many GM brands competing against each other? Selling the exact same cars?

I don't imagine that Opel and Holden would have any sort of cross over like Chevy, Saturn, Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac etc did.. Holden would continue to market Daewoos and Opel would have their own product.

[poita]

holden colorado - isuzu dmax

same car same market

[adam_92]

hmm yeah i suppose. holden are more about big 6 and 8 cylinders and opel are more about 4 cylinders from what i know anyway

[[OPCSRi]]

Anything with a VXR or OPC badge on it will do me. Insignia would be a hot thing to compete with the XR6 Turbo and F6.

[adam_92]

;569477']Anything with a VXR or OPC badge on it will do me.


+100000

[Jerram]

If they do come here I will be applying for a job in their sales department :)

yeah I'll joing you. car salesmen are pretty ruthless though.

[adam_92]

If they do come here I will be applying for a job in their sales department :)

and il be applying for a job in the workshop

[OPC]

And heaven forbid we might have a Service Department who actually know what our cars are lol

my guy from holden knows what they are... but thats a small minority 1 in a million as AXL says

send me a lil corsa OPC or zafira OPC for the missus woohoo that will make her happy

[gmonkey]

hmm yeah i suppose. holden are more about big 6 and 8 cylinders and opel are more about 4 cylinders from what i know anyway


not for much longer... scraping the V8s as part of the economic bailout plan they got unless they can start using modern v8s and also word that possibly following suit with ford and ditching 6 cylinders even...


also dont forget the cruise has an opel engine... it has my engine..

[hazrd]

i only hope they do what they are planning and its not just another thing that they would like 2 do that never happens.

^^^

what he said
no plans for me until i see the real thing...

[Keep'emRunning]

also dont forget the cruise has an opel engine... it has my engine..

I'd be asking for it back if I were you :)

[adam_92]

I'd be asking for it back if I were you :)

HAHA funny man... yeah mate your not gonna get very far without it

edit: and even if it did happen it probably wouldnt be for a couple of years anyway

[gmonkey]

watch all those people with OPC sportline astras.. there will be REAL OPCs coming soon :)

[PO15KA]

who owns www.opel.com.au ??????

[gmonkey]

i dunno but its a reported attack page ahahha

[kabel]

Indeed would be good .
Holden have chosen never to sell an Opel product here again so why not.....although I think they are to their third GM at GMH in the last few years.
Maybe there strategies are not that stable !

[Shay]

and il be applying for a job in the workshop

+1 and scoring myself a Opel GT too.