!NEW! American Ambassador Visits Opel Eisenach Plant

• Plant Director Elvira Tölkes welcomes Ambassador John B. Emerson for informational visit
• Tour of flexible manufacturing facilities for Opel ADAM and Corsa

Visit to the Eisenach production area: Plant Director Elvira Tölkes, US-Ambassador John B. Emerson and US Consul General Scott R. Riedmann (from left).

The ambassador of the United States of America, John B. Emerson, visited the Opel plant in Eisenach today, where the successful small cars Corsa and ADAM are built. He was welcomed by Plant Director Elvira Tölkes: “We are delighted to have this opportunity to present our modern and extremely flexible plant to the ambassador.”

Meeting in Eisenach: Plant Director Elvira Tölkes, US-Ambassador John B. Emerson and US Consul General Scott R. Riedmann (from left) with the Opel Corsa E.

“I am pleased that General Motors is fully committed to Opel. This is also underscored by the strong economic ties between the USA and Germany. Here in the Eisenach plant, tradition and innovation come together. I was particularly impressed with the seemingly countless possibilities to individualize the vehicles – something like that is only successful with qualified employees and highest precision,” said Emerson, who was accompanied by U.S. Consul General Scott R. Riedmann.

Elvira Tölkes explained to the guests the important role that the Eisenach plant plays in Opel’s small car strategy. “Opel is the only manufacturer that not only developed two small cars in Germany, but that also builds them here. This gives our plant excellent prospects for the future and is also an acknowledgement of the employees who set standards in quality and productivity here in Eisenach.”  Due to high demand, a third shift will be added in Eisenach mid-year, for which more than 400 new employees will be hired.

The vehicles from Eisenach are an important part of Opel’s product offensive: to 2018 the brand will introduce 27 new cars and 17 new engines to the market. Thanks to its renewed portfolio, Opel aims to increase market share in Germany to ten percent by 2022 and to eight percent in Europe. 

!NEW! Two Millionth Vehicle Leaves Opel Plant in Gliwice

The jubilee car is a Holden Cascada Convertible for the Australian market

The two millionth vehicle: Holden Cascada Convertible for the Australian market

Today, the two millionth vehicle rolled off the production line at the Opel plant in Gliwice (GM Manufacturing Poland). This unique car is a Holden Cascada with a turbocharged 1.6 liter SIDI engine with 170 hp. The elegant convertible in Deep Sky Blue is intended for the Australian market.

 Holden Cascada with a turbocharged 1.6 liter SIDI engine with 170 hp. The elegant convertible in Deep Sky Blue

The production of Holden Astras and Cascadas for Australia and New Zealand started in the Gliwice plant in February of this year and is a part of the recently announced strategy to strengthen the cooperation between Opel and other GM brands. 

The production of Holden Astras and Cascadas for Australia and New Zealand started in the Gliwice plant in February of this year

In addition, at the end of the year the production of the Buick Cascada, designed for the North American market, will begin.

New Buick Cascada convertible

"The two millionth car produced by Opel in Gliwice is the symbolic opening of the next phase of development of our plant, which will be complemented by the launch of the new generation Opel Astra later this year. We are a very well integrated and experienced team, and that help us achieve our goal of producing world-class vehicles," said , GM Manufacturing Poland managing director.

The two millionth car of the Gliwice plant represents the comprehensive experience and flexibility of the local team, while currently produces five models on one assembly line. The first car, the Opel Astra Classic, was produced in Gliwice on August 31, 1998.

Over the years, the Gliwice team has built an excellent reputation by assembling high-quality cars including the small city car Opel Agila, four generations of the compact Astra and the Zafira compact MPV. Currently, the plant produces the elegant Cascada and compact Astra in four body versions.

The Opel factory in Gliwice is one of the largest employers in the region. For over 16 years, it has been producing cars for various markets in Europe, Africa, North America, Asia and Oceania and it is one of the largest exporters in Poland. The plant is also one of the best GM plants in terms of the energy consumption thanks to its successful environmental projects focused on the optimization of the energy management.

Opel is one of the fastest growing brands in Poland. In 2014, the brand sold more than 28,000 vehicles in the country (+41 percent) and was able to rise to number four of the Total vehicle market with a market share of nearly 7.2 percent. The upward trend continued this year: In the first quarter of 2015, sales increased by 23 percent and market share by 1.7 percentage points, compared to the same period last year.

Opel Cascada is a 4.70 meter-long, elegant mid-size class convertible. A classic four-seater with an elongated silhouette and sophisticated soft-top.

The Cascada is a 4.70 meter-long, elegant mid-size class convertible. A classic four-seater with an elongated silhouette and sophisticated soft-top, it offers open-air driving fun in premium quality at a very attractive price. The Cascada’s electric soft-top can be opened at the press of a button at driving speeds up to 50 km/h in just 17 seconds – or also via remote control when the car is stationary. Best Opel chassis technology is featured as standard on the Cascada’s front axle with HiPerStrut (High Performance Strut) suspension, guaranteeing driving fun and superb traction.

Opel Cascada, HiPerStrut (High Performance Strut) suspension 

!NEW! Opel Continues to Grow in Europe

• Sales increased by around 8,500 units in first three months of 2015
• Market share grew, market share gains in 11 European markets

Especially Opel Mokka SUV is a major momentum driver: Opel gains market share in 11 European countries

Opel is on the right track: with 279,306 new registrations in the first quarter of 2015, the automaker’s sales were considerably higher than the same year-ago period according to preliminary figures. The sales increase of around 8,500 cars is a plus of 3.1 percent. With this, Opel and its British sister brand Vauxhall grew slightly more than the overall European vehicle market‘s 2.8 percent increase. The automaker was also able to continue its positive market share trend from 2013 and 2014, slightly increasing it over the same year-ago period to 5.83 percent.

Peter Christian Küspert, Vice President Sales and Aftersales, Opel Group, was pleased with market share growth in a total of 11 European markets. “In countries like the UK, Spain, Italy, Poland and Turkey, demand is considerably higher than last year. With our young and attractive model portfolio, we benefit from this.”

The compact Opel Mokka SUV, which continues to be extremely popular and leads its segment in countries like Italy and Germany, is a major momentum driver. In the first quarter of 2015, the Rüsselsheim automaker surpassed the 50,000 mark for new passenger car registrations on its home market in Germany: exactly 51,584 (year-ago period: 49,965) new Opel cars hit the roads. The best month was March, when Opel increased its new registrations to 23,044 (March 2014: 22,131), a market share of 7.1 percent. The Opel passenger car market share in the first quarter of 2015 was 6.8 percent in Germany.

The light commercial vehicle (LCV) business showed a clear upwards trend. Opel improved market share in the European LCV field to 4.2 percent in the first quarter of 2015 – the best quarterly market share since 2009 thanks to the new Vivaro and Movano models. Peter Christian Küspert says, “The LCV business offers tremendous potential for growth and it is a key pillar of our long-term plan DRIVE! 2022.”