German Vouchers Bring Opel the Best Result in 10 Years

The automotive market is so unstable that companies that were close to bankruptcy become over night leaders in their segments with thousands of models sold in a very short period. Opel, the German manufacturer which started feeling the pressure of bankruptcy and insolvency has recorded a huge number of orders, thanks to the scrapping bonus offered by the local government, according to media reports.

GM's German unit, which is currently seeking new investors, received no less than 80,000 orders for Insignia, with 18,000 coming from domestic buyers, Autonews wrote today quoting Michael Klaus, executive director for sales, marketing and aftersales at Adam Opel GmbH.

To refresh your memory, the German government agreed to pay 2,500 euros ($3,351) to owners of cars that are at least nine-year old to replace them with new and less-polluting models.

"We forecast some 120,000 customer orders in the first quarter of 2009. That is the best result for Opel in the last 10 years," said Michael Klaus, explaining that the company may after all have a bright future thanks to government incentives.

Honda is another example that emphasizes the market instability, as the Japanese manufacturer experienced collapsing sales in almost every single market. Nevertheless, since the company introduced its flagship hybrid Insight, sales exploded, according to representatives which unveiled that Honda can't handle the high demand unless it increases production of this particular model.

To be more specific, Honda said it is currently incapable of building more than 600 Insights per day and, even if some people pointed that it would be better if the company moves production in the United States, no such moves will be done for the time being.