Bye Bye Opel

[Amaroo Park]

After just 12 months in Australia Opel have closed the operations here with immediate effect.

http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/o...802-2r4ch.html

[wolfhound]

Originally Posted by Amaroo Park

After just 12 months in Australia Opel have closed the operations here with immediate effect.

http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/o...802-2r4ch.html

Are the smaller Holdens in Australia not Opels in disguise?

[FIRE]

Read about this yesterday. I didn't know Opel was selling cars in Australia.
GM management really thought selling Opels in Australia was a good idea?

Originally Posted by wolfhound

Are the smaller Holdens in Australia not Opels in disguise?

I think in the past yes, but not anymore. It's mostly Chevrolet now. www.holden.com.au

[Amaroo Park]

The whole thing was poorly thought out and poorly executed. Opel said they were coming into the market as a direct competitor to BMW etc.

[GTRMagic]

The guys at Thomson Opel in Parramatta still had all their Opel brand flags flying yesterday, business as usual..

Resale value = $0.02?

[Amaroo Park]

I know a few dealers who have built new showrooms etc are now being tempted across to Peugeot PSA. There will be some very interesting court case coming up when some very disgruntled dealers take Opel to court

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by Amaroo Park

I know a few dealers who have built new showrooms etc are now being tempted across to Peugeot PSA. There will be some very interesting court case coming up when some very disgruntled dealers take Opel to court

But some of them wont get a look in with Sime Darby (Peugeot & Citroen distributors) as there are already dealers for those brands in the same PMA.

Parramatta for example already has Trivett operating their Peugeot business, so perhaps Opel of Parramatta could become Citroen of Parramatta instead? :Shrug

[Amaroo Park]

Peugeot and Citroen are treated as separate operations though

[Amaroo Park]

So who would have though Holden would stop making cars in Australia (Sarcasm intended)

[wolfhound]

I see where the European arm of GM Vauxhall and Opel have been taken over by PSA.

https://www.theguardian.com/business...opel-gm-motors

I wonder how that is going to play out over the long term as Peugoet, Citroen, Vauxhall and Opel are all mid market brands with a lot of over lapping products. I can see where it would save costs in terms of platforms parts etc. but it does not appear logical from a market point of view unless some brands are much stronger in some countries than others. I hope it does lead to a pile of badge engineering.

[BertMk2]

I'd have thought Opel would survive and just share chassis / drivetrain with the other PSA cars (much like VW, Audi, Skoda, Seat) although arguably the PAS cars have more market overlap as they're all pitched at the same level. Vauxhall though does seem a bit screwed - uk only? Not much point in that - kill Vauxhall and sell Opels in the uk would seem the obvious move.

[wolfhound]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

I'd have thought Opel would survive and just share chassis / drivetrain with the other PSA cars (much like VW, Audi, Skoda, Seat) although arguably the PAS cars have more market overlap as they're all pitched at the same level. Vauxhall though does seem a bit screwed - uk only? Not much point in that - kill Vauxhall and sell Opels in the uk would seem the obvious move.

The only difference between Opel and Vauxhall these days seems to be a few badges and maybe some interior trim judging by what I see in Ireland where Opel are sold by GM but there are a lot of used Vauxhalls imported.

[GTRMagic]

Meantime, Holden Australia have a fresh supply deal with Opel for the Insignia... to be known in this market as the Commodore...

At some point in the future.. it will likely not be available to Holden Oz.. so presumably we then get some US-built model..

Woohoo..

[Number4]

I have a Vauxhall Meriva company car. It is a completely terrifying white knuckle ride above 50mph. Negotiating a roundabout is a near death experience. It seems determined to capsize into a ditch or a hedge. The radio won't find a station, the rear doors won't lock, it guzzles fuel, the rev limiter cuts in below the red line, and the power steering cuts out crossing a pot hole. My old Golf was twice as old and 100 times a better car.

I won't shed any tears for a company that has made lemon after lemon.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by Number4

I have a Vauxhall Meriva company car. It is a completely terrifying white knuckle ride above 50mph. Negotiating a roundabout is a near death experience. It seems determined to capsize into a ditch or a hedge. The radio won't find a station, the rear doors won't lock, it guzzles fuel, the rev limiter cuts in below the red line, and the power steering cuts out crossing a pot hole. My old Golf was twice as old and 100 times a better car.

I won't shed any tears for a company that has made lemon after lemon.

Whilst I can only commiserate with you for being saddled with such an appalling car as your company vehicle - can you not throw it into a dealership to get all the niggles fixed? That's surely one of the huge benefits of having a company car - no maintenance worries, just bung it into the dealers for every rattle and squeak.

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by FIRE

Read about this yesterday. I didn't know Opel was selling cars in Australia.
GM management really thought selling Opels in Australia was a good idea?


I think in the past yes, but not anymore. It's mostly Chevrolet now. www.holden.com.au

The only cars from that list available in the US as Chevys are the Barina & Spark (which are Daewoos), we get a long wheelbase version of the Captiva, Trax, and of course the Malibu. Even the truck is different.

We get the Commodore badged as a SS and the Caprice are available as police cruisers... for the time being.

The Opel Mokka, Cascada and Insignia are sold in the US as the Buick Encore, Cascada, and Regal respectively. This is what I expect Holden to become, hence the dissolution of Opel there. I agree though, a dumb idea to start with.

[Number4]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Whilst I can only commiserate with you for being saddled with such an appalling car as your company vehicle - can you not throw it into a dealership to get all the niggles fixed? That's surely one of the huge benefits of having a company car - no maintenance worries, just bung it into the dealers for every rattle and squeak.

Hi Bert,
It's an 04 Meriva with 122,000 on the clock. I suppose it will be written off this year. I doubt it will get another MOT. The wonderful company I work for supplies us only the finest, as you can see. The chances of me getting a dealer to fix are similar to that of me orbiting the moon.
I shall have some fun killing it, it shouldn't be too much trouble, hopefully I won't injure myself too badly in the process.
My last four cars were a Golf and then three Skylines, all had over 100k on the clock when I got them, and all felt ready for another 100k. This sad sack of bolts is just awful.

[NaBUru38]

The European Union approved the sale of Opel to PSA.

The transaction would raise no competition concerns

The merged entity will still face strong competition from manufacturers such as Renault, Volkswagen, Daimler, Ford, Fiat and various Asian competitors