A series which has looked at the existing and future models of Groupe PSA – first Peugeot, then Citroën and DS Automobiles – now reaches its final chapter.
It’s been more than six months since a reaction to PSA and Opel-Vauxhall’s PACE! plan was published. Between then and now, various new and additional models have been announced and certain aged ones axed.
Go deeper with GlobalData
The decline of both brands in the overall European region continues and PSA insists that it is not too alarmed by this state of affairs. Vauxhall in particular has been having a hard time of things with a brand relaunch in all but name presently underway. Whether or not a campaign centred on cloaking the Astra in the union flag will work is open to conjecture. Certainly the car itself is in need of help as sales continue to fall in the UK. Insiders have denied rumours that a scheduled mid-life facelift due in 2019 might be brought forward.
As for Opel, it is a mixed picture across the European continent and in the Irish republic. The Astra, Corsa and Mokka X are the main problems. The first of the two needs the facelift ASAP to give dealers something with which to tackle the new Focus. The Corsa, meanwhile, is under attack by younger rivals such as the Polo and Fiesta, with a new Clio due in showrooms in 2019 after a public premiere at the Paris motor show in October. The Mokka X is also sliding down the regional sales charts as it approaches the final period of its lifecycle.
Happily, the Grandland X and Crossland X are doing well, the Insignia is holding its ground in a segment which others (Citroën, DS and Toyota) have given up on, the GSi sub-brand is being expanded and there is a new Opel Combo Life coming soon of which Vauxhall gains a version too – that’s not the case with the model it replaces, the Opel Combo Tour. UK dealers will be happy to have an effective replacement for the recently discontinued Zafira Tourer, especially one which comes in two lengths and includes seven-seat variants.
On the manufacturing side of things, Groupe PSA has given some guarantees to its Opel and Vauxhall workforces. This will have been a welcome novelty after years of mostly threats from General Motors rather than statements of pride in its European operations. For the moment, there is also nothing official on the topic of plant closures either, another contrast with what took place under GM. This is not to say though that PSA has been very good at stopping the brain drain out of Opel or making public statements praising its employees. A recent announcement of a new engine family to be developed in Rüsselsheim was at least a sign from Paris that this R&D centre has a future.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataVauxhall Motors, which was rarely even publicly mentioned by Opel leaders in the GM era, still has a question mark hanging over it. The company is yet again being forced to sustain cuts to what were already miniscule budgets. These were extreme under GM but PSA appears to be cutting yet more muscle, any fat having been been removed many years ago. Now, as well as deep gouges into the dealer network, even smaller costs such as the PR budget are being ruthlessly and if there is an intention to retain Vauxhall – dangerously – slashed.
Even though the declared position is full support from Paris for a two-brand future, that may change. Switching the UK to Opel would be very costly and potentially destructive even if, theoretically, this would remove the expense of having two cost centres for all branded constituents of what is currently Opel-Vauxhall. Nonetheless, as Vauxhall’s share of the UK market continues to slide, the issue of replacing the griffin logo with a blitz must at least be under consideration.
At what point does Vauxhall cease to be a major brand in its only market? Currently, sales have tumbled by a further 13 per cent (as at 31 May) compared to the fall sustained in 2017. Volkswagen has moved up to take this brand’s traditional second place, mainly due to the strength of the Golf plus the decline of the Astra, Corsa and Mokka X. This has resulted in the make now sitting on a market share of just 7.3 per cent. Mercedes-Benz, Audi and/or BMW are getting very close to the same level and with way fewer dealers.
Groupe PSA talks a lot about having a German brand to complement its historic French makes plus DS. The British love German cars, they buy a lot of Volkswagens and older potential customers might even have some recall of Opels. Once the dealer network has been shrunk, PSA may act. Who knows, if the marketing and advertising are handled expertly, the reintroduction of Opel as an intended equal for the VW brand might even work.
Speaking of culling, this has been going on recently in the combined ranges of Opel and Vauxhall model line-ups. This isn’t as drastic as it may sound, due to the fact that certain models were old or no longer selling in any decent numbers. That applies to right-hand drive versions of the Zafira Tourer and GTC (Astra three-door). LHD versions of the Astra GTC as well as the Astra Sedan are still in production but will likely be phased out later this year, while Cascada build for RHD countries at least has already ceased.
Towards a two-platform future
Opel terms the PSA architectures which it is tasked with further developing ‘Modular multi-energy platforms’. There are just two of these, one originally engineered by Groupe PSA alone (EMP2: Efficient Modular Platform); and what started life as EMP1, which evolved into a JV with Dongfeng Motor, is now labelled CMP (Common Modular Platform).
According to Opel’s definition, “a modular platform consists primarily of the floor assembly, the chassis and various powertrains, as well as the base electric/electronic architecture. The platform is therefore the decisive factor for cost-efficient automobile manufacturing and represents 60 per cent of the material costs. The Groupe PSA platforms are complemented with modules for engines, seats, restraints, cockpits and infotainment systems that can be used in various carlines”.
As EMP2 and CMP gradually become the basis of all models, CEO Michael Lohscheller believes that the business will save “between 20 per cent and 50 per cent of the development costs of every new Vauxhall/Opel model compared to its predecessor”. This, he stated in a media release issued solely by Vauxhall on 18 June.
A segment
The Opel Karl/Vauxhall Viva is a GM-engineered vehicle and closely based on the Chevrolet Spark. As such, it is supplied by GM Korea. The Karl/Viva is 3,680mm long, making it slightly shorter than the Adam, which is a four-seater. The first customer deliveries of the Karl and Viva took place in June and July 2015.
As part of the announcement of Opel/Vauxhall’s PACE! plan, Michael Lohscheller told the media in November 2017 that imports of these little cars would cease but did not give a date for when this would happen. Vauxhall’s press office told just-auto.com on 18 May that “both of those models continue throughout this year and next”.
Toyota Motor Europe and Groupe PSA’s Czech joint venture factory might be expanded to manufacture a replacement for the Karl/Viva with the model to be based on the next generation of the Peugeot 108/Citroën C1/Toyota Aygo triplets. This would echo the strategy of the Volkswagen Group which has the up!, Mii and Citigo in the same segment, all built in the same factory.
B segment
The Corsa is now 18 months away from being replaced. Understandably, it is beginning to fade. Even though it was technically new in 2014, this car was an extensive re-engineering of a model first released in 2006. Given how hard it is to make money in this segment, such a strategy is logical and was also employed by Ford of Europe for the latest Fiesta: the Ford B2e platform owes much to a Mazda architecture which was first used in 2007.
The Corsa is one of multiple models built at the Opel plant in Figueruelas. The Spanish factory is also where the Citroën C3 Aircross, Opel/Vauxhall Crossland X, and Opel/Vauxhall Mokka X crossovers are made.
The Corsa GSi, announced by both Opel and Vauxhall in March, has recently begun to arrive in dealerships. Powered by a 1.4-litre turbo engine, its outputs are 110kW (150PS) and 220Nm. It replaced the Opel Corsa OPC and Vauxhall Corsa VXR. A month after the GSi was announced, Vauxhall stopped selling diesel versions of the Corsa.
The next generation model has changed project codes (formerly G2JO) from a GM one to a PSA one, and also architectures. Work had begun on the car, with its basis being GM’s Gamma 2 architecture. That work was stopped and now the next Corsa will use CMP. Production is due to commence in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Build would be at Figuerelas (Zaragoza), Opel announced in December 2016. There had been fears by German unions that Eisenach, which produces certain versions of the current Corsa, might be closed before this car goes into production. The German plant, which also builds the Adam, was thought to be potentially losing production of the next Corsa.
The other model in the B segment is the Adam, a car which is likely now around two years or possibly fewer from phase-out. Intended to be a rival for the Mini three-door and Cabrio and DS 3, the Adam had its global debut at the Paris motor show in September 2012. Production commenced in January 2013 on the same line as the Corsa at Eisenach. The platform is bespoke but derived from the original Opel and Fiat SCCS architecture, as used by the Corsa.
Under General Motors ownership, Opel had been developing the Adam 2 with the project code of G2DO. The Groupe PSA architecture model code is not yet known. Indeed, the next Adam might even have been cancelled. There was no specific mention of it during the November 2017 media briefing which announced the bullet points of Opel and Vauxhall’s ‘PACE!’ restructuring plan. If a new model is still planned, it would likely be released in 2020, many months after the arrival of the next Corsa.
C segment
The first customer deliveries of the current Opel & Vauxhall Astra five-door hatchback took place in the fourth quarter of 2015 which means a mid-life facelift should arrive around April next year. The addition of a GSi should be part of the news surrounding the arrival of the revised range.
Production is split between Ellesmere Port and Gliwice with the estate sourced solely from the factory in England’s northwest. Unlike the Polish plant though, Ellesmere Port produces only the one model. The workers have an agreement that the Astra five-door and estate will remain in production there until 2021.
Last October, Vauxhall Motors told the media that it would be asking for 400 voluntary redundancies from workers at the current model’s lead plant. This took Ellesmere Port down to one shift.
With the architecture of the next Astra becoming PSA’s EMP2, major spending will need to take place to refit one or both of the former GM plants which make the current GM Delta platform model. Given the shrinking European C segment, the weakness of the Vauxhall brand, the uncertainty of what the UK’s withdrawal from the EU will mean and the relatively low cost of workers in Poland compared to England, sadly, it would be surprising if Ellesmere Port isn’t closed. Possibly even before the current Astra is scheduled to be replaced.
If the UK plant is shuttered, Gliwice would be able to replace much of the lost capacity at relatively low cost, while discontinuing the estate would not be a major issue.
The next Astra should be on sale in 2022 and it is my no means guaranteed that this model will be manufactured at Gliwice or any other Opel plant. It could in theory move to a Peugeot-Citroën-DS factory in France such as Mulhouse or Sochaux.
As for the current GTC (originally the Astra GTC), this continues to be available for factory order or from dealer stock in many LHD European markets. RHD production for Vauxhall as well as Opel Ireland and Opel Malta ended in March (this was also when RHD versions of the Zafira Tourer stopped being built).
The Astra Sedan remains in production for various LHD countries. It is expected to be discontinued either later this year or in 2019.
D segment
The second generation Insignia would have its public debut at the 2017 Geneva motor show, it was announced in October 2016. GM was believed to have been influenced by how well the similarly sized Skoda Superb had performed in Europe and China so there is no sedan with this generation. Opel and Vauxhall offer three bodies for the Insignia: Grand Sport (five-door hatchback), Sports Tourer (wagon) and Country Tourer (crossover wagon). All are built at Rüsselheim/Ruesselheim.
The four would logically have been replacements for the sedan, hatchback, wagon and Country Tourer. The same plant builds the Buick Regal for North America and the Holden Commodore for New Zealand and Australia.
An update for the infotainment systems was the most recent news for the Insignia. This was announced by Opel earlier in June.
There are two scenarios for the future of the Insignia: the current model lives out its originally planned lifecycle and therefore ceases production in 2024. However, Groupe PSA is less than keen on having to pay for technology which it licenses from General Motors for this model. Therefore the next Insignia, which will obviously use PSA’s EMP2 larger models platform, might be brought forward to as soon as 2021.
Speaking to the media last November, Michael Lohscheller referred to a D segment model to be built at Rüsselsheim. Crucially, he did not say “SUV”.
It is now presumed that this vehicle will be a sedan. This would make sense as Opel and Vauxhall need to lift their margins and VW has proved with the CC and Arteon that there is a market for a long, low four-door car above the Passat. As the Insignia is not available with a four-door body, a larger, more expensive sedan could potentially be successful.
Opel and Vauxhall might revive a name for their histories for this vehicle. Admiral, Monza and Diplomat have been suggested.
MPVs
The smaller of two multi-purpose vehicles has been announced but won’t in showrooms for some months yet. This is the new Combo Life. For Opel, it succeeds the seven-year old Combo Tour. There has been a Vauxhall version of that model although there is an LCV derivative. The new Citroën Berlingo/Berlingo Multispace replacement and Peugeot Partner are part of the same development programme.
The current Combo is built in Turkey by FCA and its local partner, Koc but the new model will be made in a PSA plant in Spain. Both five- and seven-seat layouts will be available. Production is due to commence at Vigo in August.
The Opel Vivaro Tourer and Combi+ are the passenger versions of the Vivaro van. These were revealed at the Frankfurt IAA in September 2017, as was the Vivaro Life. Vauxhall’s equivalents are the Tourer Elite and Combi Plus and Tourer Weekender.
The Vivaro van has been in production since 2014. It is a JV with Renault, FCA Italy and Nissan Europe. The Nissan NV300, Fiat Talento and Renault Trafic are all part of the same project. Manufacturing takes place in two locations: Sandouville in France for the Renault and Nissan models as well as high roof versions of the Opel/Vauxhall Vivaro. All other Opel Vivaros and Vauxhall Vivaros are built in England at Vauxhall Motors’ Luton plant.
Groupe PSA issued a media statement in April announcing additional production of the Vivaro and its derivatives at Vauxhall Motors’ Luton plant from 2019. In 2017, Vauxhall produced 60,000 LCVs at Luton and capacity is now scheduled to rise to 100,000 vehicles a year.
Crossovers & SUVs
Technically, the Karl Rocks and its Viva Rocks equivalent for Vauxhall are crossovers. Really though, each is just a small five-door hatchback with a few exterior modifications such as roof bars and wheelarch extensions plus an 18mm suspension lift. The Opel had its public debut at the 2016 Paris motor show. The first customer deliveries took place in April 2017. As for details of any replacement, see the section above for the Karl and Viva.
The Adam Rocks is another small would-be crossover and there is also a version with an electrically-folding canvas roof. This is called Adam Rocks Air. The jury is out on whether or not either of these cars will be replaced. Production of the existing models takes place at Eisenach. Build will likely end in 2020.
There are two models in the B-crossover segment but it is not entirely clear why. The first has recently taken a steep tumble down the sales charts across Europe but this is to be expected given its age, how successful it was an entrant to a segment that few others saw and the enormous number of rivals which have subsequently appeared. The Mokka X is due to be replaced in 2019 and it will again be manufactured at Eisenach. Complementing it is the newer Crossland X.
The Crossland X stepped in for the Meriva and was no doubt fairly cheap to develop, being part of a JV between the then GM Europe and PSA. An Opel team in Rüsselsheim led the engineering execution of the joint project. Unlike the Mokka X, the Grandland X has only ever had Groupe PSA powertrains.
The vehicle is 4,212mm long, 1,764mm wide and 1,588mm high, compared with the Mokka X’s respective 4,275mm, 1,781mm and 1,658mm dimensions. The Mokka X is also available with AWD whereas the Crossland X isn’t.
This crossover was revealed to the media in January 2017, with the car’s public debut being six weeks later at the Geneva motor show. LHD cars were in showrooms in May, with RHD Opels and the Vauxhall versions following a month later. Production started in May 2017.
Groupe PSA began introducing additional Opel models to the South African market in January 2018, following the withdrawal of General Motors from the country. The Crossland X was the first new vehicle to be released there in the PSA ownership era.
Expect a facelift for this model in 2020 and a potential replacement in 2024. There is however, a chance that it might be discontinued before then but that depends on sales develop.
The 4,477mm long Grandland X is the replacement for the Antara, even though the latter was out of production for some eighteen months by the time the successor went on sale.
The Grandland X also serves as the Zafira Tourer replacement. Its public debut was at the 2017 Frankfurt IAA with the vehicle arriving in Opel and Vauxhall showrooms during the first quarter of this year.
Production is at PSA’s Sochaux plant in France with kits sent to Namibia for some small scale assembly. Groupe PSA told the media in May that Grandland X build at Sochaux would end in 2019 with the model due to be shifted to Opel’s Eisenach factory. The German plant will also be where the Grandland X Hybrid will be made. This announcement angered French unions. PSA insists that “overflow” assembly of the Peugeot 5008 at Sochaux will help to counter the loss.
The agreement to move the Grandland X to Germany came after Opel workers workers received five-year job guarantees after their union sanctioned delaying a nationally negotiated pay rise until 2020.
As with the closely related Citroën C5 Aircross, Peugeot 3008, Peugeot 5008 and DS 7 Crossback, the Grandland X comes only in front-wheel drive form (although a PHEV powertrain will mean electric AWD).
Mystery surrounds one other model, a D segment SUV, which is said to be under development within PSA, not Opel. It will be closely related to the Citroën C5 Aircross and Peugeot 5008. A market release might take place as soon as early to mid 2019. It can be thought of as a modified, longer Grandland X. A prototype or concept should be revealed within the next few months.
Electrified models
Soon, the only Opel on sale with no Vauxhall version will be the Ampera-e. There was no specific mention of this electric crossover in last December’s PACE! announcement but it seems unlikely that the car will survive. Aside from it not having sold too well, another issue is a lack of right-hand drive availability.
Further, PSA is especially keen on phasing out as much GM technology as quickly as possible, so an imported Chevy Bolt with a few changes to its looks doesn’t fit. As Europe-wide sales in 2017 totalled just 1,977 cars, Opel might discontinue the Ampera-e as soon as this year.
Michael Lohscheller confirmed to be media last November that the company was developing an electric version of the next Corsa. This car will not be a PHEV but a battery-electric model. It will inevitably share much with the next Peugeot 208, which means Groupe PSA and Dongfeng Motor’s CMP. This platform has a specific variant for battery-electric applications.
Opel told the media in February that the car would be built at its Zaragoza plant “by” 2020. The model name is said to be eCorsa. Expect a facelift in 2023 and a replacement in 2026.
According to the company, all European market Opel passenger vehicles will be electrified by 2024. This, either via battery electric or plug-in hybrid applications. Vehicles with combustion engines alone will remain though. The electrification of the LCV range will begin in 2020, the firm stated earlier in June.
As part of the electrification initiative, a ‘hybrid’ version of the Grandland X is under development and due to go into production during 2020. This was confirmed by Groupe PSA and by Opel in a release issued in May. For reasons which are unclear, Opel and Vauxhall are expected to market the Grandland X PHEV as a hybrid.
The next Insignia is also expected to become available with a plug-in hybrid powertrain. The release date for the Insignia PHEV is not yet known and much depends on how long PSA intends to build the existing Insignia, a car brim full of GM technology which the French group must pay licensing fees for. The other issue over this model is where it will be manufactured. PSA risks greatly upsetting German unions should it be planning to build the car in the same plant as what will inevitably be closely related hatchbacks and estates with an identical 1.6-litre engine+motor drivetrain: the Peugeot 508 and next generation Citroën C5.
This was the final feature in a four-part series looking at what’s head for Groupe PSA. The next manufacturer to have its divisions’ future model plans discussed will be Zhejiang Geely Holdings Group. The brands in question are: Geely, Geely Emgrand, Lynk & Co, Volvo Cars, Polestar, Proton and Lotus.
Future model plan reports for other manufacturers can be viewed in the OEM product strategy summaries section of just-auto.com.
Future product program intelligence
More detail on the past, current and forthcoming models for every division of Groupe PSA can be found in PLDB, the future vehicles database which is part of QUBE.
