!NEW! Opel goes back to the future with Feyenoord Rotterdam

Opel Company today announced a new partnership with one of the leading Dutch football clubs

From left: Karl Howkins, Managing Director, Opel Netherlands and Feyenoord Head coach Ronald Koeman with the new Opel Cascada convertible

A four year agreement has been reached for the Opel logo to be carried on Feyenoord shirts from 2013-17. The partnership signals an extension of a long running relationship which dates back almost 30 years to when Opel was main club sponsor from 1984-89.

 From left to right: Karl Howkins CEO Opel Netherlands, Ben Wijnstekers, Jordy Clasie, Mark Koevermans Feyenoord Commercial Director and Feyenoord Head Coach Ronald Koeman with the Opel Kadett E GSi convertible and Opel Cascada convertible

Speaking at the official launch of the partnership at the De Kuip Stadium on Monday, Feyenoord commercial director Mark Koevermans said: “We are very excited to welcome Opel as our new Club sponsor. Opel has an extremely impressive pedigree and enjoys a long-serving and very successful partnership with our club. This is a partnership which is not simply about the Opel name being carried on our shirt. Opel will be extremely supportive and active in helping us develop our highly successful social, grass roots and community activities.”

Karl Howkins, Managing Director, Opel Netherlands, said: “We are delighted to announce our partnership with Feyenoord. Our organizations have a proud history of co-operation and friendship for almost 30 years. “Our strong relationship and cultural similarities will enable us to deliver highly exciting and innovative joint initiatives during the term of our sponsorship. Both of us have exciting and ambitious plans – Feyenoord in the development of exciting young footballing talent, and Opel with plans for a market launch of 23 new car models and 13 new powertrains by 2016.”

Duncan Aldred, Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Aftersales for Opel/Vauxhall Europe, said: “Feyenoord and Opel share many powerful common brand values and philosophies. We are both established and major players in the Dutch market and both organizations are planning exciting major new initiatives.”

As part of the sponsorship, Feyenoord executives, coaching staff and players will drive a fleet of Opel vehicles.

Head coach Ronald Koeman and coaches Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Jean-Paul van Gastel already drive Opel’s revolutionary electric, extended range Ampera.

Opel were club sponsors of Feyenoord from 1984-89, and official automotive suppliers to the club from 1984-2002 and 2010 onwards.

In 1970, Feyenoord was the first Dutch football club to win the European Cup and followed this in the same year with victory in the Intercontinental Cup to claim the world club crown.  Following their UEFA Cup victories in 1974 and 2002, the club remains the last Dutch club to earn European honours.  Formed in July 1908, the club has the distinction of being one of only four clubs never to have been relegated from the Dutch first division and has won 14 national titles, 11 Dutch Cups and 2 Dutch Supercups. 

Feyenoord joins an Opel/Vauxhall European football portfolio which also includes partnerships with Borussia Dortmund, Fortuna Dusseldorf, Bayer Leverkusen, SC Freiburg and FSV Mainz (Germany) as well as all four Home Nations national teams in the UK (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales).

!NEW! Opel ADAM to Offer iPhone Users Siri Eyes Free Integration

• Opel ADAM extends its leadership as best connected small car
• Siri Eyes Free Integration already available in ADAM
• Premiere and live demonstrations at Geneva Motor Show (March 7-17, 2013)
• TuneIn global radio, BringGo navigation and Stitcher radio apps also in ADAM

The Opel ADAM with the IntelliLink infotainment system will be available with support for Siri, the intelligent assistant that helps you get things done just by asking.

Using a steering wheel mounted button, customers with a compatible iPhone^[1] running iOS 6 can direct Siri to perform a number of tasks while they safely keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel. To further minimize distraction, Siri takes hands-free functionality even further with an Eyes Free mode which enables you to interact with your iPhone using nothing more than your voice while keeping your device's screen from lighting up. This super cool feature is demonstrated in all ADAM present on the Opel stand at Geneva Motor Show (Palexpo Genève, Hall 2, March 7-17, 2013) and will be available for ADAM drivers as of April 2013 already.

Owners simply connect their iPhone with the IntelliLink infotainment system via Bluetooth, pair with the system, and use the steering wheel voice activation button to begin and end sessions with Siri in Eyes Free mode.

In the Opel ADAM equipped with the IntelliLink infotainment system, owners can use Siri Eyes Free to:

• Make voice activated, hands-free calls to Contacts on their iPhone
• Play songs in their iTunes libraries
• Listen to, and compose and send an iMessage or text message to a phone number or anyone in saved Contacts
• Access Calendar and add appointments
• Minimize distraction even more by keeping the screen of the iPhone from lighting up even while Siri answers simple questions such as game scores or the dates of national holidays

Siri Eyes Free is just another capability of ADAM’s IntelliLink infotainment system

Opel’s new IntelliLink infotainment system that has made its debut in ADAM is compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch as well as Android devices. At the Geneva Motor Show visitors can also experience the full scope of options IntelliLink offers in the new ADAM – TuneIn, a global radio access app, BringGo, a full function navigation app, and Stitcher, a global podcast internet radio app.

The availability of apps demonstrates the power and flexibility of Opel’s IntelliLink system, which brings the connectivity and functionality of smartphones safely into the car via a seven-inch, high resolution, full color touch-screen display with Bluetooth or USB connections. These options add another dimension to ADAM infotainment choices, and demonstrate the ability to continually expand and update IntelliLink capabilities with new apps.

IntelliLink can therefore be as personal to use as the content kept on an iPhone or Android device, and is a key contributor to the ADAM’s overwhelming appeal as Opel’s champion of personalization.

TuneIn is a streaming audio powerhouse, offering customized connectivity and entertainment with a global network of 70,000 radio stations. The TuneIn App gives ADAM owners access to global, personalized infotainment controlled through the car radio. This means an ADAM driver in Germany can listen to his favorite jazz station in New Orleans and another one in Spain can dial in to a talk radio station in Africa.

To access TuneIn through the IntelliLink radio, ADAM’s driver needs to download the free TuneIn Radio App from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch or Google Play and connect their iPhone or Android device with IntelliLink for safe, seamless connectivity to live local, international and Internet radio stations streaming more than two million on-demand programs from every continent. Users can search for programming by location, genre, sports team name, station type or call sign.

BringGo navigation is another useful app which is downloaded from App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch or as a map version for Eastern and Western Europe, also available on Google Play. The data remains installed on the users device, which means ADAM owners can avoid paying any roaming fees while driving abroad because a separate broadband connection is not required.

ADAM drivers can continue their journey on foot or by bike while still using their navigation system. An additional advantage of BringGo is its connection to internet search engines. For example, if ADAM drivers want to find a restaurant or hotel, they can just run a name search and the results will be displayed automatically on the BringGo navigation map. BringGo is available in 23 languages.

Also supported by IntelliLink is the Stitcher App from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, also available on Google Play, a free global podcast internet radio app which enables users to listen to programs live or after they have been broadcast. Once Stitcher is downloaded to their device, ADAM owners can access more than 10,000 podcasts on demand, or radio shows and live stations around the world via the IntelliLink touch-screen.

OpeI IntelliLink is sophisticated, yet affordable equipment (only 300 euro in Germany). Standard infotainment for ADAM JAM, ADAM GLAM and ADAM SLAM (in Germany) is a CD 3.0 BT system with radio and CD players, featuring Bluetooth and USB connections as well as a hands-free function. As with IntelliLink, the AM/FM double radio tuner can be combined with DAB digital radio for a broad choice of listening options. And the whole infotainment system can be further enhanced with an impressive Infinity Sound System with eight loudspeakers (5x 45 Watt and 1x 90 Watt).

^[1] Siri is available in Beta only on iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad (3^rd and 4^th generations), iPad mini and iPod touch (5^th generation), and requires Internet access. Siri may not be available in all languages or in all areas, and features may vary by area. Cellular data charges may apply.

!NEW! Opel - Best brand in small car design

Opel ADAM, Ampera and Zafira Tourer convince in German car magazine Auto Bild survey

Opel ADAM

Cars like the lifestyle ADAM strengthen the Opel brand. The most recent evidence is the success of the current readers of the specialist magazine Auto Bild (issue 9/2013): You searched for the best brands in each of the different classes of vehicles. In the small car is the winner in terms of Opel design. 81 percent of readers chose here for the new ADAM, the criterion of quality, thanks to ADAM, Opel comes with 67 percent of the vote in second place.

Opel Zafira Tourer MPV

There were three more silver medals for Opel: At the compact MPV convinced the Zafira Tourer 58 percent of readers in terms of quality and 67 percent on the price-performance ratio, while in the quality criteria of electric vehicles 65 percent voted for the Opel Ampera.

Opel Ampera EV

"We are proud of the result, because it shows how our brand image has improved in recent months," said Opel Marketing Director Andreas Marx. "Our product offensive is having an effect."

Auto Bild determined for a total of 13 vehicle classes and in the field of electric mobility, the opinion of the reader in terms of design, quality and value for money. Nearly 100,000 readers took part in the vote - compared to last year with increased unmistakable sympathy for Opel: "Quality, design and pricing policies show significant gains Image - ADAM and Mokka do Opel obviously really good," was the conclusion of the magazine.