Opel Strengthens Overseas Business with Assembly in Namibia

• Assembly of Opel Grandland X in new Groupe PSA JV facility in Walvis Bay starts already this year
• Further impetus for business in Southern Africa
• Growth outside Europe major pillar of PACE! strategy plan

New frontiers: Assembly of the Opel Grandland X in the new Groupe PSA plant in Namibia will start later this year.

Export offensive: Opel will further strengthen its presence in Southern Africa by assembling the Grandland X SUV in the new Groupe PSA plant in Walvis Bay, Namibia.

Opel continues to pursue its export offensive in markets outside Europe, capitalising on the global production footprint of Groupe PSA. Already this year, Opel models will also be produced in the plant in Namibia that was announced today. With this step, Opel will further strengthen its presence in Southern Africa.

Opel Grandland X will be assembled at the new Groupe PSA plant in Walvis Bay, Namibia, later this year.

“Increasing profitable sales significantly in markets outside of Europe is one of the key pillars of our strategic plan PACE! and we are making great progress in this area,” said Opel/Vauxhall CEO Michael Lohscheller. “Today’s decision also demonstrates how much Opel benefits from being a part of the Groupe PSA. We leverage the global presence of our parent company to gain a fast foothold in growth markets.”

In a first step, Opel will produce its SUV Grandland X in Walvis Bay/Namibia in the so-called SKD (Semi Knocked Down) assembly starting in the second half of 2018. Other products will follow at a later stage.

Groupe PSA and Namibia Development Corporation (NDC) signed a joint-venture to assemble both Opel and Peugeot brand vehicles in Walvis Bay. The annual targeted volume is more than 5,000 units by 2020.

“This very fast decision and implementation demonstrates the excellent cooperation with our different brands,” said Jean-Christophe Quémard, Executive Vice-President, Africa-Middle East of Groupe PSA. “This project is also the illustration that the Opel brand has a real potential in the region.”

A comprehensive export offensive is part of Opel/Vauxhall’s strategic plan PACE! which will pave the company’s way back to sustainable profitability. Opel targets doubling overseas sales by 2020. The goal is to generate 10 percent of the Opel sales volume outside of Europe by the mid-2020s. To reach this, the brand will further strengthen its presence in 15 export markets in Asia, Africa and South American where it is already present today and will enter more than 20 new export markets by 2022.

The decision to also assemble Opel vehicles for the African market in Namibia in the future is not the first step with which Opel is fulfilling this promise: In recent months, the car manufacturer from Rüsselsheim has already named renowned new trading partners in South Africa, Morocco and Tunisia. This will set the course for growth in these important markets of the future.