Photo: Opel
Back in 2015, haunted by incredibly bad sales number, Opel, at the time owned by GM, decided to exit the Russian market and wait for better times. Now, under the leadership of French car group PSA, Opel is planning an expansion to 20 new export markets. And a return to Russia comes first.
On Wednesday, Opel announced that by the end of the year three of its cars will be available for purchase at local Russian dealers in the country’s largest cities. The three car models are the Grandland X, the new Zafira, and the Vivaro, which will be produced locally at the PSA plant in Kaluga.
“The launch of a new brand on the Russian market will allow the Groupe PSA to strengthen its presence in the Eurasia region, expand the offer for existing customers and win new ones,” said in a statement PSA’s operational director for Eurasia, Yannick Bézard .
"Along with the Opel brand launch in Ukraine last year we project to triple Groupe PSA brands volumes in the region by 2021, based on profitable business and this project will strongly contribute to this target,” added the executive.
As per Opel, Opel cars will be sold through the revived dealership network, but will also add new ones. The carmaker will use a network of 15 to 20 dealers at first but plans to double that number in the mid-term.
As for the cars to be sold there, Opel said the three main products introduced this year will soon be followed by others, but stopped short of providing any more information on the subject.
The re-entry on the Russian market is fueled by Opel’s commitment to generate 10 percent of its total sales from outside Europe by mid-2020.
Accompanying the move into Russia will be several aggressive moves to be made in Asia, Africa, and South America.
“The launch of a new brand on the Russian market will allow the Groupe PSA to strengthen its presence in the Eurasia region, expand the offer for existing customers and win new ones,” said in a statement PSA’s operational director for Eurasia, Yannick Bézard .
"Along with the Opel brand launch in Ukraine last year we project to triple Groupe PSA brands volumes in the region by 2021, based on profitable business and this project will strongly contribute to this target,” added the executive.
As per Opel, Opel cars will be sold through the revived dealership network, but will also add new ones. The carmaker will use a network of 15 to 20 dealers at first but plans to double that number in the mid-term.
As for the cars to be sold there, Opel said the three main products introduced this year will soon be followed by others, but stopped short of providing any more information on the subject.
The re-entry on the Russian market is fueled by Opel’s commitment to generate 10 percent of its total sales from outside Europe by mid-2020.
Accompanying the move into Russia will be several aggressive moves to be made in Asia, Africa, and South America.
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