Chevrolet could be as big as Opel/Vauxhall in Europe, according to GM Europe sales and marketing vice-president Jonathan Browning.
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Trebling last year’s European sales of 450,000 is a realistic ambition, he said. “I believe Chevrolet could sell up to 1.5m cars in Europe in the medium term,” Browning said on the eve of the Geneva motor show.
He would not putting a timeframe on the target, only to say it could be achieved “within five to 10 years”.
Growth would be driven by the booming central and eastern European market, where Chevrolet, as a low-cost brand, has strong appeal. Bizarrely, the iconic American brand has found favour in Russia, now its largest European market–thanks largely to the 55,000 Chevrolet Niva SUVs built annually in GM’s joint venture with AvtoVAZ.
Lada-maker AvtoVAZ last week finalised its new JV with Renault, but Browning said this deal would not spell the end of the seven-year-old GM venture.
“I don’t see any reason to do anything different,” he said.
Chevrolet achieved a 7% share of the fast-growing Russian market last year – way ahead of its European average of around 1%.
A range of Chevrolet and Opel models will be built in Russia from late 2008 when a new CKD assembly plant near St Petersburg comes on line.
In the UK, Chevrolet’s sales of 20,000 units are still short of the peak days of Daewoo, which achieved 1.5% of the UK market in the late 1990s, though Browning said he was satisfied with progress since the 2006 re-branding exercise.
Meanwhile, he said GM was “in it for the long haul” with regard to US luxury brand Cadillac’s European presence.
Around 4,500 Cadillacs were sold in Europe last year, and Browning believes the new CTS saloon offers “a big step forward” for the brand.
“It’s more in line with what European customers want in terms of dynamics, interiors and craftsmanship,” he said.
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