New High-tech Visual Technologies for Opel Design Center

• Groundbreaking ceremony for investment of €11 million
• Extended design center to be completed by June 2017

First step of a new era: Uwe Baum, Deputy Chairman of the Works Council, Opel CEO Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann, Vice President Design Mark Adams and Richard Bolz, Director Design Operations Europe, (from left to right) at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Visualization Center.

Opel is continuing to invest in its design capacities. The Design Center of the Rüsselsheim headquarters will be extended for €11 million. Ultra-modern visual and communication technologies will allow even better and more effective work once it is completed in June 2017.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the development and modification took place on Tuesday with Opel CEO Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann in attendance. Mark Adams, Vice President Design and Uwe Baum, Deputy Chairman of the Opel Works Council, also took to the shovels.

Preview of the future: Vice President Design Mark Adams (right) gives Opel CEO Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann (left) and Uwe Baum, Deputy Chairman of the Works Council (second from right), an insight into the possibilities offered by the new Visualization Center.

“Outstanding design has always been one of the key factors of the Opel brand,” said Dr. Neumann. “The development of the Design Center will give our creative minds new possibilities. That will help us take the next step in our model offensive. It will also further strengthen the position of the Rüsselsheim Design Center as the European lynchpin in global development.”

Uwe Baum added: “I am delighted that the next building project in Rüsselsheim has started. This new investment is further proof that Opel is back. The construction will also provide the essential space for the more than 80 new employees recently hired by the European Design Center.”

Virtual Reality projection equipment, complex video conferencing systems along with ultra-modern network concept will allow the employees in the extended Design Center to make decisions quicker than before.

“The ultra-modern facilities will enable various technologies and techniques – from the clay model to virtual reality or augmented reality models – to be connected and compared to each other, allowing Opel to set standards in this sector internationally,” said Mark Adams, Vice President Design.

This investment is the second significant design investment made recently. Previously the company created a high-speed milling center for €5 million.

Extending the design capacities is a further step in the implementation of Opel’s large-scale model offensive. By 2020, the company will bring 29 new vehicles to market. The next highlight is the new Astra Sports Tourer, which will be delivered from April.

What Opel designers are capable of can currently be admired at the Geneva Motor Show. The Opel GT Concept is currently celebrating its world premiere there and grabbing the headlines. This trendsetting sportscar expresses the continuous innovative strength of Opel – breathtaking in its shape, reduced to the bare essentials, pure passion. The thoroughbred athlete with a front mid-engine and rear-wheel drive takes Opel’s sculptural design philosophy to the next level.