Opel’s main factory in Figuerelas, Spain, is set to boost production to 480,000 annual units or “full capacity” on the back of brisk demand for Corsa supermini, despite the GM subsidiary’s decision to hand some production to Eisenach, Germany.
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In related developments, Seat announced a strategic reshuffle to boost domestic sales that will see the creation of a separate sales and aftersales division in Spain.
Regarding Figuerelas, “in terms of volume, both factories win,” an Opel Spain official confirmed GM Europe’s president Nick Reilly as telling a press conference. “We are not going to increase Eisenach’s size so the cars that won’t be made in Germany will be made in Spain.”
Both factories share the Corsa’s production though Zaragoza, the group’s largest employing 6,800, also makes the Meriva MPV minivan and Combo passenger vans.
Opel intends to make 900,000 units of the next Corsa in Germany so how much Spain ends up building will hinge on global demand. Nevertheless, Reilly said both factories will likely operate at “full capacity”
Corsa’s “strong sales” and the arrival of the next Meriva in Figuerelas have boosted the factory’s orders by 50,000 units, enabling it to finish the year with 380,000, Reilly added.
Meanwhile, Seat said Jose José Miguel Aparicio y Giovanni Tanzarella, will lead the sales and post-sales units respectively. Aparicio was a sales director at Ford Spain while Tanzarella worked in a similar role at Toyota Europe. The reshuffle will help Seat achieve its new strategy to lead sales in Spain where Renault and PSA Peugeot-Citroen have a stronghold.
The team will work to boost sales in central and southern Spain with a special emphasis on Madrid. The VW Spanish unit has a limited dealership network in the capital and is looking to open an office and make new hires in the city, the company said in a statement. There will be a special effort to bolster sales to public institutions and businesses, a strategy that has worked in Catalonia where Seat will retain its headquarters in Barcelona.
Seat sales surged 21.7% from January to August but the company is planning new layoffs to compensate for an expected sales drop in the second half after Spain removed its Plan 2000E sale subsidies.
