Automobile - Opel has been manufacturing automobiles for a staggering 125-year duration.
Opel is experiencing a resurgence after years of financial troubles. As part of the European-American conglomerate Stellantis, the German carmaker has been making profits once again since undergoing major restructuring, which involved laying off thousands of employees and cutting production sites significantly.
Tomorrow, Opel will celebrate its 125th anniversary at its headquarters in Rüsselsheim, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz expected to attend. The company will prioritize its electric vehicle strategy, as CEO Carlos Tavares aims to compete against Chinese imports.
Since 1899, Opel has produced over 75 million vehicles. After the death of company founder Adam von Opel, the factory on the Main was expanded using sewing machines and bicycles. The skilled workforce and similar production methods paved the way for Opel's rise to become Germany's largest carmaker in the 1920s, before being acquired by General Motors (GM).
Originally, Opel produced the obsolete patent car designed by automotive pioneer Friedrich Lutzmann. The company only managed to produce 65 vehicles by 1901, which still resembled horse-drawn carriages. They didn't start making significant progress until collaborating with French manufacturer Darracq. Opel produced the successful Doctor's Car 4/8 PS and the 1924 "Laubfrosch" on the assembly line.
The Nazi regime initially had little impact on the American investors who purchased Opel in 1929. Under the leadership of the P4, Blitz truck, and the Olympia with a self-supporting steel body, Opel became the largest European carmaker. However, during World War II, the factories were converted for war production and used forced laborers. GM remained profitable during the war, though they later claimed shares from the Nazi era.
Opel's status shifted from market leader to losing brand in the 1980s, a phenomenon known as the "Lopez effect" after the manager José Ignacio López, who focused on cutting costs regardless of quality. The reputation of Opel models deteriorated, and American-appointed executives rotated frequently.
In the 1990s, Opel was a major player in the German automotive market. They made a billion-dollar investment in a new factory in the car city of Eisenach, which opened in September 1992, just two years after German reunification.
After two decades of losses, Opel was acquired by PSA, the mother company of Peugeot, from GM in the summer of 2017. Opel was "on the verge of being clinically dead", according to auto expert Stefan Bratzel. Often-expensive and planned GM models were phased out, leaving only those developed under PSA. Since 2022, all Opel vehicles operate using Stellantis' technology, which formed when Fiat-Chrysler merged with PSA.
There were proposed deals to sell Opel during the 2008/2009 financial crisis involving a consortium of Canadian supplier Magna and Russian Sberbank. Despite approved state loans and ongoing EU inquiries, GM halted the deal at the last minute and tried to salvage Opel through mass layoffs. In 1990, Opel employed over 57,000 people, with the plants in Bochum being downsized.
PSA's acquisition turned out to be a fortunate development for Opel, as IG Metall's district head of Mitte, Jörg Köhlinger acknowledges. "There has been a lot of change in recent years," he says, "but the constant job cuts have been frustrating for workers. I'm certain that under GM, Opel and its employees wouldn't have had a future."
Opel remains one of many brands in the Stellantis group, according to car industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhöfer. He states that as an independent carmaker, Opel wouldn't have made it through. Being a part of Stellantis gives Opel a sense of security and access to modern technology. This allows them to provide newer cars to the public.
Bratzel, another industry expert, considers Opel's takeover by PSA as a stroke of luck. So long as Opel can blend platform-based model development with appealing design, they have a decent chance of surviving in the age of electromobility.
Electric days ahead
Opel's chief executive, Florian Hüttl, assures that at least one fully electric model will be available in every vehicle series. The company has experienced a 15% increase in sales since 2023, making it the best performance in two decades. Their global sales have climbed to about 670,000 vehicles, a four-year high.
Sales outside of Europe have soared by 62% to exceed 100,000 vehicles. In Germany, the market share stood at 5.3% by the end of 2023, in Britain and Turkey it was even 6%.
New models starting from 2025 will only offer a battery as an option.
At the event, Hüttl revealed a more decisive push towards electromobility for Opel: "Starting from 2025, every new Opel model will be fully battery-electric. This will play a significant role in Stellantis' goal of being carbon-neutral by 2038. We're providing German engineering art for everyone. This is a tale of triumph we want to continue - until 2030 and beyond."
This doesn't align with the recent news of the Stellantis stake in ACC halting the planned battery plant at the Opel site in Kaiserslautern with approximately 2000 jobs. The reason provided is the poor demand for electric vehicles in the European market.
Dudenhoeffer predicts a challenging future for Opel: "Stellantis faces a long-term dilemma as they don't have a significant presence in the Chinese market. By 2030, the sales figures in China will outstrip those of the US and European markets combined. 'Anyone who's not in China isn't truly in the automotive industry.'" As a result, Stellantis has purchased Chinese carmaker Leapmotor, which can swiftly introduce affordable electric vehicles to the group's lineup.
