Opel crossover, luxury flagship, sports car under consideration

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By Brett Davis | February 17th, 2012

A range of new Opel models is in the pipeline according to Opel and Vauxhall CEO Karl-Friedrich Stracke, who has expressed he wants the company to produce a new flagship luxury model, a crossover, and a new sports car.

The Opel Insignia, set to launch in Australia during the third quarter of this year, is currently the company’s flagship vehicle, and it has been highly praised by international media. Stracke says he wants to build on its success and offer something with a higher level of luxury.

Stracke spoke out about plans at a recent Frankfurt event, saying, “I believe we need a top of the line car to be positioned in the luxury segment. The Insignia car has done a great job of showing we can make premium-like products, but establishing ourselves properly in this territory will be a long journey”.

He also said it would be beneficial for the company to bring out an all-new crossover to take on the premium SUV segment, including rivals such as the Mercedes-Benz ML-Class and BMW X5.

Opel doesn’t currently offer any type of SUV or crossover in its international line-up, with the sub-compact Opel Mokka set to become the first later this year. It’s rumoured the new SUV model could be based on the Buick Enclave, using the GM Lambda platform.

A new sports car was also mentioned, with Stracke saying in a recent Autocar report the company could benefit from “possibly another roadster … a car with a deeper connection into the company than the Opel-Vauxhall VX220 and the Opel Speedster that came from the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky.”

Before anything is given the green light however, Stracke made it clear that plans would have to be assessed after it launches the new Ampera, Mokka, Astra convertible and Junior in 2013.

schah7

Who Cares — the sooner Fiat purchases Opel from GM the better.

Tlaxcala

Why would Fiat want to purchase a brand that lost 750 million dollars last year? The only reason GM hasn’t killed Opel is because Opels rebadged as Buicks make a decent profit in China.

Opelman

The reason that GM has not ditched Opel is that most of the cars that GM builds are on platforms developed by Opel. GM bled Opel dry for years, using its cars and research and development, but failed to properly manage the brand, much the same as Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Hummer etc etc. The problem for GM with Opel is that they need Opel. Selling Opel to another car brand or to the Chinese would directly affect GM’s interests

GM need to be more sensible with their brands and the resources they use. Their cars need to share more components than what they do currently, and look at the company as a whole, not Opel for Europe, Holden for Australia, Chevrolet for USA and now UK; this is why the VW group (Audi, Skoda) etc is so successful, as the architecture of their cars are built on the same platforms with many parts coming from the same parts bin. Having the Golf built in South Africa and the Beetle in Mexico sure reduces costs too.

I am confident that GM will fix Opel, because they need to, I’m just not sure it will be successful with the current people making the decisions… I guess time will only tell!
Opelman

The reason that GM has not ditched Opel is that most of the cars that GM builds are on platforms developed by Opel. GM bled Opel dry for years, using its cars and research and development, but failed to properly manage the brand, much the same as Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Hummer etc etc. The problem for GM with Opel is that they need Opel. Selling Opel to another car brand or to the Chinese would directly affect GM’s interests

GM need to be more sensible with their brands and the resources they use. Their cars need to share more components than what they do currently, and look at the company as a whole, not Opel for Europe, Holden for Australia, Chevrolet for USA and now UK; this is why the VW group (Audi, Skoda) etc is so successful, as the architecture of their cars are built on the same platforms with many parts coming from the same parts bin. Having the Golf built in South Africa and the Beetle in Mexico sure reduces costs too.

I am confident that GM will fix Opel, because they need to, I’m just not sure it will be successful with the current people making the decisions… I guess time will only tell!
Tuzii

i wish opel good luck in the australian market which is already drenched with car makers.