35 years of Opel in Eisenach: CEO Florian Huettl hands over all-new Opel Grandland Electric to the automobile welt eisenach museum

• From Eisenach for Eisenach: CEO Florian Huettl hands over new Opel Grandland Electric to Automobile Museum
• First: Top SUV is first electric car in exhibition at “automobile welt eisenach”
• Tradition: Opel firmly anchored in Thuringian city and region for 35 years

Brand new and already in the museum: Opel CEO Florian Huettl presented a new Opel Grandland Electric to the collection of "automobile welt eisenach" ("awe") on Wednesday. The new Opel flagship was unveiled in Eisenach a year ago and has been delighting customers and the trade media ever since.

The top-of-the-line SUV is the first Opel to be based on the state-of-the-art STLA medium platform, optimized for electric vehicles. The model, in all its powertrain variants, is manufactured at the Eisenach plant, which also received its own battery shop. Another special feature:all-new Opel Grandland is the first Opel model with batteries from a European manufacturer—produced by ACC in Douvrin, France.

"All-new Opel Grandland Electric is a true game changer with an electric range of up to around 700 kilometers 1. It was designed and developed in Germany and rolls off the production line exclusively here in Eisenach. It is therefore a great honor for me that our latest model completes the presentation of Eisenach automobile manufacturing since 1898 in the 'awe' museum – and a great pleasure that the range of Opel models on display from Eisenach is also enriched by a state-of-the-art electric SUV," said Florian Huettl, CEO of Opel & Vauxhall and Managing Director of Stellantis Germany.  

Dr. Jessica Lindner-Elsner, Scientific Director of the "awe" Museum and Archives, emphasized: "We are delighted that today the first representative of e-mobility – built in Eisenach – is making its way into our vehicle presentation and would like to thank Opel for this generous support. This not only expands our exhibition to include the current Opel model from Eisenach, but also builds a bridge to the beginning of vehicle production here in the city in 1898. Even back then, electric motors were already in use in the Wartburg Motorwagen."

Opel and Eisenach have enjoyed a close relationship for 35 years. The brand with the lightning bolt was one of the first companies to become involved in the former East German states in 1990, the year of reunification, laying the foundation for a success story with cars "made in Eisenach" that continues to this day. A few months after the founding of Opel-AWE-Planungs-GmbH in March 1990 and just two days after the official reunification, the first Opel Vectra rolled off the assembly line in an AWE factory on October 5, 1990. Three months later, the foundation stone for the new factory in the Wartburg town was laid.

Christoph Ihling, Mayor of Eisenach, emphasized: "It fills me with personal pride that all-new Opel Grandland is not only being built in Eisenach, but is being presented in a fitting manner at an authentic site of Eisenach's automotive history. The fact that Opel has been based in Eisenach for 35 years now demonstrates that the combined transformation efforts after reunification were no flash in the pan. To this day, they continue to have a positive impact far beyond the plant, securing jobs and prosperity throughout the entire region. I am committed to ensuring that this continues in the future."

The plant in Eisenach is well prepared for the future. The company has invested €130 million in the site for the production of all-new Opel Grandland and has developed it into a true 'electric plant' – with a battery shop and a production facility where the top SUV, with all drive variants, can roll off a single line with full flexibility.

[1] The stated – provisional – range was determined based on the WLTP test procedures (Regulation (EC) No. 715/2007 and Regulation (EU) No. 2017/1151). The actual range may vary under everyday conditions and depends on various factors, in particular personal driving style, road conditions, outside temperature, use of heating and air conditioning, and thermal preconditioning. Vehicle with 97 kWh battery not yet available.