With both brands stuck in a terrible slide after the loss of multiple GM architecture models such as the Mokka X, Karl/Viva, Adam and Zafira, COVID-19 couldn’t have happened at a worse time for Opel and Vauxhall.
May was another awful month, ACEA noting that O-V’s European sales plummeted by a combined 66%. Might the many new vehicles arriving relatively soon turn things around?
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By GlobalDataNot all Opels and Vauxhalls are twins
Following a period of consolidation, there is now just one model in the two brands’ line-up which isn’t shared. Previously, the Combo Tour and Astra sedan had been available only for Opel’s markets, while the VXR8 super-sedan and pick-up were exclusive to Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Apart from the Insignia and Astra (and they have each been revamped with PSA powertrains), the final legacy vehicle from the General Motors ownership era is the Ampera-e, the electric crossover being limited to certain of Opel’s LHD markets.
The differences continue but now they are mostly names and/or some variants which work in various continental countries not being available as Vauxhalls. That applies to the newly announced Opel Zafira e-Life and Vauxhall Vivaro e-Life. The UK market line-up of this big electric MPV won’t be as extensive as what Opel offers in for example Germany. Groupe PSA is applying the same strategy to the nearly identical Peugeot e-Traveller and Citroën ë-SpaceTourer: each will be available in Britain with a 50 kWh battery pack and two body lengths. In France and elsewhere, there will be both 50 kWh and 75 kWh battery packs and three body lengths (small, medium, large).
Griffin goes on
If the PSA-FCA merger is allowed to proceed, the question of Vauxhall may come up yet again. That’s a while off, as we won’t know until the European Commission reports back once its Competition investigations (for 14 EU markets plus Britain) reach a conclusion. The EC said recently that this would be announced by 22 October. The inquiry is especially interested in what could be a reduction of choice for light commercial vehicle consumers.
The potential FCA-PSA will mean a huge number of brands shall need money spent on them. With the Griffin emblem marque restricted to England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, might Vauxhall will be replaced by Opel? The official word as of now is a firm no. That comes from Carlos Tavares himself who is very keen on developing all five of Groupe PSA’s existing passenger vehicle brands. A theoretical cost of launching Opel would not only be prohibitive but PSA executives insist that Vauxhall has a bright future.
Of course there are no guarantees as to which brands live and which could be retired after the union of FCA and PSA. As has been remarked before, that list could include Abarth, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Fiat Professional, DS, Lancia, Vauxhall and possibly even Alfa Romeo and Opel. It would be highly controversial if these last two are phased out, though, and the same applies to Fiat in the Italian and Brazilian markets. As strange as it might seem right now, could some big name but likely unprofitable brands just be quietly wound down later in the 2020s? At the moment we just don’t know but the official position is that all marques stay.
Under PSA, Opel has been tasked with selling more than ten per cent of its vehicles outside Europe by 2025. To that end, as well as the initiative in Namibia, the company has signed agreements with new importers in Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa and Lebanon. Now, post-COVID-19, the pressure from Paris to keep expanding outside the EU, EFTA and the UK will be intense.
It could of course all work out beautifully for Opel-Vauxhall, should the latest models and quite a few others which will join them in 2021 and later in the 2020s be well received.
What new, what’s next?
The Corsa-e was announced to the media by Opel and by Vauxhall in May last year. Production started in January days after its debut at the Brussels motor show and deliveries commenced two months later. Opel says the Corsa-e’s motor produces 100 kW (136 PS) and that the maximum range is 330 km (205 miles) according to WLTP, Europe’s Worldwide Light harmonized vehicle Test Procedure. The battery pack has a capacity of 50 kWh. See PLDB for non-electric versions of the Corsa. There should facelifts in 2023 and successors in 2026.
The replacement for the Mokka X had been expected to appear at the Geneva motor show in 2019, and then to be in showrooms towards the end of the year. However, a 9 October 2018 media statement announced ‘2020’ as the date for the model’s release.
Opel, under GM ownership, stated in December 2016 that the car would be built from 2019 at its Eisenach plant but under PSA, that changed. The first generation model was dual-sourced from GM Korea’s Bupyeong factory and Opel’s Figuerelas plant near Zaragoza in Spain’s north east. In February 2019, Groupe PSA told the media that a ‘B-SUV’ for Opel/Vauxhall would be manufactured at the Poissy plant. This is believed to be the next Mokka (the X is dropped for this generation).
Opel and Vauxhall stated in April that both electric and combustion engine variants would be in production during the fourth quarter with sales to commence in early 2021. Click on the link below to PLDB for more information as well as for details of the Mokka-e. The media gets to hear all the details of the new Mokka later in June.
The next Opel and Vauxhall Astra will be in production in 2021, PSA told the media a year ago this month. The identity of one of the two plants which will build it is yet to be confirmed: Ruesselsheim was announced in June 2019 and provisionally, Ellesmere Port. In October 2017, Vauxhall Motors told the media that it would be asking for 400 voluntary redundancies from workers at the current model’s lead plant in north-west England. That took the site down to one shift from two. This is the only vehicle made there, although as of now, no cars are being built with the factory idled until September.
With the architecture of the next Astra becoming PSA’s EMP2, major spending would need to take place to refit both of the former GM plants which make the current model. Given the shrinking C segment, the weakness of the Vauxhall brand, the uncertainty of what the UK’s withdrawal from the EU will do to its economy, plus the relatively low cost of workers in Poland compared to England, many believed that Ellesmere Port could be shut for good even before the current Astra is scheduled to be replaced.
In May 2019, Groupe PSA stated it would be building large vans at the Gliwice plant. Responding to a question on what this would mean for the future Astra, a spokesman for the company told just-auto.com, “Ellesmere Port and Gliwice will continue to produce the Astra model. No decision about the allocation of the future Astra has been taken. We continue to discuss and work with all partners to improve the competitiveness of our plants”.
Some speculated that Ellesmere Port may remain open and be refitted to produce not only the next Astra but also the Peugeot 308. On 27 June 2019, Groupe PSA and Opel told the media once more that the next Astra would be built at two plants, one of which would be Rüsselsheim. The other was not named. However, in a separate statement, Vauxhall Motors said that Ellesmere Port would be the other location but with caveats.
The Vauxhall statement was as follows:
“Since the acquisition of Vauxhall Motors by Groupe PSA, we have been working hard to turn around the fortunes of the brand and to address the performance of the commercial and manufacturing divisions. Currently, the Vauxhall and Opel Astra are built in Ellesmere Port and in Gliwice – and our bestseller is still in the middle of its life cycle.
Groupe PSA has today announced its intention to manufacture the next generation Astra in two plants in Europe. The group has confirmed that the Russelsheim plant will manufacture Astra and that it is planned that the second plant will be Ellesmere Port in the United Kingdom.
The decision on the allocation to the Ellesmere Port plant will be conditional on the final terms of the UK’s exit from the European Union and the acceptance of the New Vehicle Agreement, which has been negotiated with the Unite Trade Union.
This news demonstrates the continuous effort and commitment of Groupe PSA to Vauxhall Motors”.
In January, workers at Ellesmere Port were told that the next Astra would be made there but not until 2022. Opel will manufacture the five-door hatchback starting in 2021 at Ruesselsheim and add a wagon in 2022, the company further stated.
The next Insignia is expected to become available with a plug-in hybrid powertrain. The release date for this model is not yet known and much depends on how long Opel intends to build the existing hatchback and estate. It could be as far off as the second half of 2024 or as soon as 2021, while Opel and Vauxhall’s largest passenger car might even become a crossover for the next generation, assuming there is one.
The other issue over any potential Insignia PHEV 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 Citroën ‘C6’ (name tbc).
Reports for many other manufacturers’ future models are grouped in the OEM product strategy summaries section of just-auto.com.
Future platform intelligence
More detail on past, current and forthcoming models can be found in PLDB, the future vehicles database which is part of GlobalData’s Automotive Intelligence Center. That includes the many Opel and Vauxhall models not discussed in this report.
This was the third of three features in a series which looked at the passenger car brands of Groupe PSA. It followed a focus on Peugeot, as well as what’s coming for the Citroën and DS brands. The next OEM will be Daimler.
