Dees find a Gem in Opel

We had some very exciting news over the weekend, announcing that we will be the joint major partner of the Melbourne Football Club (See link http://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/n...1/default.aspx)

While the Dee's may not be everyone's team, as a brand we think it is the perfect match for us as highlighted by our MD, Bill Mott;

“The Opel brand is new to Australia, but similar to the Melbourne Football Club, we enjoy a rich history, steeped in quality, tradition and progressiveness."

We are really excited to get the brand out there as we build towards our launch in Sepetember this year and as a born and raised Saints fan I now find myself saying with the rest of the Opel Australia team, go Dees!

Personally I think it is a very smart move by Opel.
Instantly you have sparked interest in 100+ thousand Melbourne supports and curiousity with everybody else.
Also shows that you're not just here to sell cars...

Go Pies!

I'm stoked about this. Was funny listening to the people in the stand on Sunday when it was announced up on the screen... "what's Opel?"

Great step to raising awareness of the brand.

PS. Any special deals for Melbourne FC Members? ;)

agreed to all of the above. To all those that havent heard the name before and to the millions of households it will cover through television coverage, im sure its worth its weight in gold. An excellent strategy and what perfect timing!

While brand awareness of Opel isn't high, it won't take long as long as they recognise 'Astra'.

The Astra brand is quite odd.. you get people who love them or hate them.

A couple of my family members purchased new TS Astra's back in the day with my suggestion, they were very happy with the cars (in 98 the Astra was leaps and bounds better than the opposition), but little things did go wrong after 5-6 years which in itself isn't too bad.

BUT the issue was they weren't mechanically minded and where charged a fortune by the dealers for simple repairs, when I could have got parts from the UK at 1/5th the price, so that left a sour taste in their mouths, not the car itself.

I see the same thing with VW these days, quite a few one time VW buyers who vow never to buy another VW due to the way they were treated by VW and the cost of servicing/parts/repairs.

So I hope Opel Australia learns from this. Maybe even introducing fixed priced servicing for the first 3 years. It doesn't have to be cheap servicing like Toyota's $120, but a fixed $300 odd price like Peugeot which will relieve some buyers.

VW have really scared off 2nd round buyers with $430 first services, $650 second services.

I'm looking forward to seeing some Opels on the road, especially the performance versions. The OPC Astra looks like a cracker!

+1 johnbu you couldn't have said it any better

Funny how most Aussie people don't know what an Opel is, yet the original Holden Commodore was very much an Opel creation. Only differences Holden made were RTS (Radial Tuned Suspension, a creation of Peter Hanenberger, originally an engineer/tester for Opel, later Holden CEO), Holden badges and a Holden engine.

Good to see Opel put themselves out there with sponsorships and so forth. Really, I don't see too many of the other Euro brands trying to appeal to the people through these methods.

On the topic of profile raising, I wonder whether Opel would possibly consider entering the V8 Supercars under the new Car of the Future rules that see Nissan dragging in the Altima next year. I know they probably won't, but it'd be interesting seeing an Insignia-like car hitting the track. If by some miracle they did, I somehow seeing it using Holden hardware underneath to cut development costs in the sport. Not like Opel haven't shoved a V8 in an Astra and made it RWD in the past either.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chris_r

Funny how most Aussie people don't know what an Opel is, yet the original Holden Commodore was very much an Opel creation. Only differences Holden made were RTS (Radial Tuned Suspension, a creation of Peter Hanenberger, originally an engineer/tester for Opel, later Holden CEO), Holden badges and a Holden engine.

Good to see Opel put themselves out there with sponsorships and so forth. Really, I don't see too many of the other Euro brands trying to appeal to the people through these methods.

On the topic of profile raising, I wonder whether Opel would possibly consider entering the V8 Supercars under the new Car of the Future rules that see Nissan dragging in the Altima next year. I know they probably won't, but it'd be interesting seeing an Insignia-like car hitting the track. If by some miracle they did, I somehow seeing it using Holden hardware underneath to cut development costs in the sport. Not like Opel haven't shoved a V8 in an Astra and made it RWD in the past either.

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+1

A connection with motorsport bodes well for the brand (or any motor company) and the v8 audience spreads further through the country. A move in that direction would be good in 2-5 years once basic brand awareness has been established and would set them up well for a launch in NZ. Provided the v8's contract a more profitable track there.

Opel don't have a V8 though, all those other manufacturers do

Just bolt two z20s together :p

True, they'd have to buy engines from another team and while it works well for some teams they'd want to use this platform as an engineering and marketing exercise.
No Opel engine + car of the future = Very little about this car is Opelised at all.
Lets hope they have plans for a saloon so this prospect becomes more legitimate.

AFL sponsorship is pretty huge though, it's big everywhere bar NSW + QLD. You think they'll put the blitz on any of the league teams?

Storm? :lol:


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