Photo: Opel
So you thought that GM will lose face now that Opel is on the brink of joining Groupe PSA thanks to a €2.2 billion agreement? Well, not quite. As it happens, General Motors has quite the business plan for its soon-to-be-acquired European subsidiary.
To make a long story short, General Motors announced that two of Opel’s plants in Germany had secured their midterm future. By that, the automaker refers to the production of Opel- and Buick-branded vehicles beyond 2019. And speaking of 2019, that’s when Opel plans to introduce a new Mokka X.
During a press conference, Opel representatives also revealed that an all-new “large SUV” will follow in 2020. Slated to be produced in Russelsheim, the mystery sport utility vehicle is expected to slot above the Grandland X compact crossover. As a brief refresher, the compact-sized Grandland X will debut later this year with bits and pieces borrowed from the Peugeot 3008.
“In addition,” Opel said, “investments are also confirmed for exports of sister products for another GM brand from these plants.” By that, the company refers to Buick. The American automaker only recently introduced the all-new Regal, a mid-size vehicle that’s sold as the Opel and Vauxhall Insignia in Europe. In Australia, it is known as the Holden NG Commodore.
The steps to establish organizational prerequisites further include the grouping of Opel’s European business and PSA under one company. From a legal standpoint, that means Opel will change its status from AG (joint stock company; corporation) to GmbH (limited liability company). Opel let it slip that the legal entity change will happen sometime soon, probably in Q2 2017.
There’s still some way to go until Groupe PSA becomes the new owner of Opel, including a number of regulatory approvals and clearance by the European Commission. The bottom line is, what General Motors is trying to do with Opel’s new owner is to create a foundation for continued cooperation.
Then again, it will be interesting to see what happens with Opel once General Motors’ European-built vehicles will be phased out. Once that happens, it will be up to PSA to show how well it can manage Opel's next-gen portfolio.
During a press conference, Opel representatives also revealed that an all-new “large SUV” will follow in 2020. Slated to be produced in Russelsheim, the mystery sport utility vehicle is expected to slot above the Grandland X compact crossover. As a brief refresher, the compact-sized Grandland X will debut later this year with bits and pieces borrowed from the Peugeot 3008.
“In addition,” Opel said, “investments are also confirmed for exports of sister products for another GM brand from these plants.” By that, the company refers to Buick. The American automaker only recently introduced the all-new Regal, a mid-size vehicle that’s sold as the Opel and Vauxhall Insignia in Europe. In Australia, it is known as the Holden NG Commodore.
The steps to establish organizational prerequisites further include the grouping of Opel’s European business and PSA under one company. From a legal standpoint, that means Opel will change its status from AG (joint stock company; corporation) to GmbH (limited liability company). Opel let it slip that the legal entity change will happen sometime soon, probably in Q2 2017.
There’s still some way to go until Groupe PSA becomes the new owner of Opel, including a number of regulatory approvals and clearance by the European Commission. The bottom line is, what General Motors is trying to do with Opel’s new owner is to create a foundation for continued cooperation.
Then again, it will be interesting to see what happens with Opel once General Motors’ European-built vehicles will be phased out. Once that happens, it will be up to PSA to show how well it can manage Opel's next-gen portfolio.
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