GM Europe is not planning a low-cost Opel. Instead it is focusing on a pure electric car.
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GM Europe chief Carl-Peter Forster told Auto Motor und Sport magazine there is no low-cost car planned below the current entry model, the Agila.
Earlier this year, Opel chief Hans Demant told Automobilwoche that a new small low-cost car could be made using motorcycle components. At the time, Jonathan Browning, GM’s vice president for sales and marketing, said he saw particular growth opportunities in the entry-level and premium segments.
“These two segments will account for at least 45% of the European car market by 2010,” he said.
Instead Opel will produce its own version of the Chevrolet Volt electric car. “The Chevrolet Volt and Opel Flextreme concepts are a good insight into what the car will look like,” said Forster.
In fact, when announcing a EUR9bn investment in Opel earlier this year, GM chief Rick Wagoner said that Opel would build more than one electric car model.
“GM is working on a product programme that includes the development of a range of E-Flex models for the Opel brand,” said Wagoner.
In the recent Auto Motor und Sport interview, Forster added that the new Opel Insignia, which goes into full production at Rüsselsheim in the autumn (replacing the Vectra), may also be rebranded as a Saturn model and sold in the US.
He also said that no decision has yet been reached on a possible new luxury model that could be produced in Mexico, adding that it depends on the market for upper segment cars and how that segment develops.
