Opel plans to build a range of entry-level cars to recapture the type of budget customer who in the past bought its Chevrolet brand, media reports said.
England’s Auto Express magazine said in May the UK unit of Opel, Vauxhall, would revive the Viva nameplate on a small hatchback built in Korea to rival the Ford Ka and Hyundai i10, plus the Volkswagen up!, Skoda Citigo and Seat Mii triplets.
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Auto Express said the new Viva would be “a sharply styled small hatchback that replaces the unloved Suzuki Splash-based Agila. The Viva will be based on the next generation Chevrolet Spark.”
Chevrolet, which would most likely would have launched the car, is pulling out of Europe and top GM executive said recently that would “clear the runway” for Opel Vauxhall to launch new models.
Reuters noted that value brands including Dacia and Skoda have enjoyed robust growth in austerity-plagued Europe General Motors Europe has largely missed out after it decided to axe Chevrolet.
The company has been deliberating whether to enter the value segment in Europe for some time and management is now looking for ways to expand the Opel range following a multi-year restructuring, a Reuters source said.
The move comes as part of a broader European revamp to turn over organisational responsibility for GM’s brands in Europe to Opel Group, a newly created organisational entity with around 100 employees, which Opel announced on Monday.
Opel Group will be in charge of Chevrolet’s operations in Russia and the Cadillac brand in Europe, an Opel spokesman told Reuters.
Chief executive Karl-Thomas Neumann said last month the automaker was considering making a car designed to lure clients away from other value brands.
The Financial Times on Monday reported General Motors would launch a line of low-cost models.
In October last year, General Motors put its Russian operations back under the control of its European arm. Two months later GM dropped the Chevrolet brand in Europe to focus on its Opel and Vauxhall brands, Reuters noted.
GM has made a turnaround of its European business a top priority after racking up some US$18bn in losses over the past 12 years.
