AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)06/27 Report--

Opel unveiled its new brand LOGO on June 26th local time, marking the brand's full transition to electrification. The new brand LOGO adopts segmented and flat style. after it will be used in electric vehicles in the future, it will adopt the current popular luminous design. It is understood that Opel will bring new products at the 2023 Munich Motor Show, which is expected to be put into mass production in 2024.

On May 27th, Opel officially announced the lineup of the 2023 Munich Auto Show. It is understood that Opel will bring three electric models, namely, the Astra pure electric version, the Corsa e and a brand new model. It is worth mentioning that Opel will be the only brand under the Stellantis brand to participate in the Munich auto show.

Opel's history dates back to 1862, founded by Adam Opel, when the company was founded in Russelsheim, near Frankfurt, Germany, as a sewing machine maker and then a bicycle maker. In 1899, Euler produced the first car in corporate history. In 1929, Opel became Germany's largest carmaker. In 1931, General Motors of the United States acquired Opel and became a brand of General Motors, and its main sales market was European countries. After nearly 20 years of business losses, GM sold the brand and its British brother Vauxhall to French carmaker PSA Group in 2017, which turned the company around in the mainstream car market within 18 months.

Opel as one of the century-old car companies, its number of changes should be unbeatable, at least not less than 60.

It is worth mentioning that Opel has also entered the Chinese market.

In 1993, Opel entered China and successively launched many models, such as Yingsuya, Aart GTC, Saifeili and so on, and gained a certain degree of brand recognition. However, Opel's development in China has not been smooth as a result of perennial losses, and the sharing of platforms with GM's Buick and Chevrolet has also led to criticism of the German-originated Opel brand. In 2015, Opel, which had poor sales, withdrew from the Chinese market.

In July 2020, DPCA Vice Chairman Olivier revealed in an interview that Dongfeng Group and PSA are closely discussing the introduction of the Opel brand to DPCA. It said that German brands are very attractive to Chinese users, while Dongfeng's current product range does not have German brands. The merger of PSA and FCA will also bring some new brand opportunities. "

The Chinese patent announcement on the official website of the State intellectual property Office shows that PSA has declared design patents for at least six models of its Opel brand to the State intellectual property Office for more than a year from August 2018 to November 2019. The above six models, including Opel CORSA, Grandland X cars, SUV models, commercial vehicles such as NEW VIVARO, and Opel's just released pure electric model Mokka-e, exceed 1/3 of the 17 models currently sold by Opel (including different powertrains). Among them, three models were granted design patents on July 3 this year.

This means that the Opel brand is expected to be introduced into China and has entered the early preparatory stage. In December 2019, Dongfeng Motor said it had reached an agreement with PSA to extend the term of the joint venture Shenlong Automobile Co., Ltd. In July 2021, Opel CEO Michael Rochelle said: "starting from 2024, all Opel brand models will be electrified, and by 2028, Opel will be fully electrified in the European market. We will return to China and bring 100% Opel electric cars. " In early 2022, Dongfeng Motor Group reached an agreement with PSA Group to extend the term of the joint venture, Dragon Motor, and plans to introduce Opel to the Chinese market. If both parties agree, DPCA will own the monopoly of the brand and benefit from the new technology and intellectual property rights of the new company after the merger.

However, the plan was quickly shelved. In September 2022, a spokesman for the Opel brand confirmed that the company had pressed the pause button on its expansion plans in China. "considering the amount needed to achieve practical results, Opel has temporarily shelved its plans to enter the Chinese market," the spokesman said. " Opel said the decision was in line with Stellantis's "light asset" strategy in China.

In this way, it is unlikely that Opel will enter the Chinese market. Prior to this, as a brand under the Stellantis Group, domestic Fiat announced its withdrawal from China, and Jeep also became an imported brand. DS has almost no sense of existence, the only Peugeot and Citroen struggled to maintain the share of French brands in China, and Opel also withdrew from China after being domestically produced. Even if China is the world's largest auto market, it may be difficult to have a good market performance if its models are built on the same platform of DPCA.

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat