2023 Munich Motor Show - Opel Experimental Concept
- Opel has been a subsidiary of the Stellantis group since 2021, having been a subsidiary of PSA from 2017 to 2021 and a subsidiary of GM from 1929 to 2017. The Opel Experimental Concept is a study presented at the 2023 Munich Motor Show which announces the design of the second generations of the Crossland and Grandland scheduled for 2024 and especially the battery electric Manta scheduled for 2025.
- Opel (with its British subsidiary Vauxhall) is a brand in great difficulty because it has continued to decline in sales volume and market share in Europe for the past twenty years. While it still produced more than 1,600,000 vehicles in 2005, it will only produce 600,000 vehicles in 2022 (-62.5% drop), while the European passenger cars and light utility vehicles market (Opel only sells in Europe) fell during this period from 17.5 million to 13 million (-25% decrease).
- Opel, like Ford Europe, saw its sales fall facing the competition from Japanese and then Korean carmakers who were operating in the same price zone. Even Volkswagen has taken market share from Opel, the fact being particularly striking for the Opel Astra which was ousted by the Volkswagen Golf and for the Opel D-segment sedans (Vectra then Insignia) which were ousted in part by the Volkswagen Passat. Added to this was the delay taken by Opel in the SUV category and the dark period of diesel engine quality problems which impacted Opel's brand image. The German brand then had to source diesel engines from Fiat, but this period was interrupted by the sale of Opel to the French group PSA in 2017. The creation of Stellantis in 2021 must respond to the difficulty of managing competing generalist brands such as Opel, Fiat, Peugeot and Citroën.