Opel chief Karl-Thomas Neumann has confirmed the Opel/Vauxhall Ampera is for the chop but, in a series of Twitter posts, promised a replacement.
“After the eventual run-out of the current generation Ampera, we’ll introduce a successor product in the electric vehicle segment,” he said.
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“Our next electric vehicle will be part of our massive product offensive – with 27 new vehicles in the 2014-2018 time frame.
“We see e-mobility as an important part of the mobility of tomorrow and we will continue to drive down costs and deliver affordability.”
Data JATO Dynamics mined for just-auto‘s recent review of Volvo’s V60 PHEV showed the Ampera was fourth most popular plug-in in Europe (25 countries including Russia) in 2013 with 2,925 sales (plus 947 Chevy Volts) after Mitsubishi’s Outlander (8,239), the V60 (8,066) and Toyota’s Prius (4,958).
YTD May 2014 it sold 155 (36 Volts) vs 881/233 end May last year. Outlander was still tops on 6,837 ahead of the V60 (2,835), newcomer BMW i3 (1,689) and Prius (587).
The Detroit News said Volt sales had struggled and never met GM’s initial forecasts for sales growth.
Its sales fell 34% in June in the United States to 1,777 and were down 12.6% this year to 8,615. GM is also offering hefty incentives for its slow-selling plug-in Cadillac ELR, which has sold just 390 vehicles in the first six months of the year, the paper noted.
Neumann also confirmed Opel’s planning a new entry level model but this would not be a “budget car but a real Opel (quality, innovation, German engineering)
“Opel will not move into the low-budget segment. We leave this place to others.”
