mobile-menu-icon
GM Authority

Opel Adam Won’t Have “Traditional” Trim Levels, Will Wear Name On C-Pillar

Opel has unveiled that its upcoming Adam city car will not be offered with a traditional trim level hierarchy, according to the third installment of the Opel Adam comic. Instead, the car will offer three “moods” including funky, elegant, or sporty — officially called Jam, Glam, or Slam, respectively. In other words, buyers will be able to buy an Opel Adam Jam, Adam Glam, or Adam Slam.

Additionally, the official Adam comic revealed that the minuscule car will have its name written out on its C-Pillar, rather than on its trunk/boot lid — as is the case with most cars today. Catch the third edition of the comic for yourself (in PDF form) right here, complete with some fun words about what Opel founder Adam Opel would have thought of the car’s name.

The GM Authority Take

The team in charge of Adam marketing is trying something different by not offering a normal set of trim levels, and we would like to tip our hats in their general direction for doing so. And did we already mention that we’re huge fans of using the comic as a marketing tool? If so, our apologies.

GM Authority Executive Editor with a passion for business strategy and fast cars.

Subscribe to GM Authority

For around-the-clock GM news coverage

We'll send you one email per day with the latest GM news. It's totally free.

Comments

  1. I think that the Opel Adam is a hipster lol, traditional nomenclature for trim levels and placement of the name is to mainstream lol.

    Reply
  2. Nonsense. Total rubbish. I hope they keep that Jam, Glam, and Slam garbage to themselves. They had better do some serious research into those names. There is no way they could sell any of those cars in the English speaking Caribbean and in particular Jamaica. The words jam and slam are synonyms for sex, and glam is short for “glamity” which is an old slang word for vagina. Slam is also the name of a locally produced condom. NEEDLESS to say I am NOT enthused nor amused. I think a golden opportunity for the Adam to mark the beginning of a truly new Opel, the way its Biblical namesake marked the beginning of humanity is about to be missed. But I fear it will jump the new beginning and go straight to repeating the First Adam’s mistakes and subsequent banishment from the Garden…And it’s not just about the names. It’s about the superficial adjustments that Opel/GM have announced as their plan for bringing the company back to profitability.

    Reply
  3. Richard, your killin me…

    Reply
  4. Richard, I don’t think the linguistic irregularities of Jamaica are of much importance to a brand that is not directly sold in that country. The moods thing is a nice and different approach to bringing differentietion to a car to the right demographic.

    But you seem set on disliking Opel for its new business plan. What is wrong with it?

    Reply
    1. The linguistic irregularities of the names as it relates to the Jamaican people are very important. There are 2.5 million Jamaicans living in Jamaica, but there are some 3.5 million or so who are legally considered Jamaicans who live in North America and Europe. The influence of the Jamaican culture is also widespread. Ask Janet Jackson…she used a very Jamaican word in the movie “Poetic Justice”, when talking to Tupac Shakur. You may not know this but BMW considers the Jamaican market VERY important and launched the E46 in Jamaica months before it did in many other “important” markets. Same case with the X3. I’m not saying that Opel should let Jamaica guide it’s decisions, but those names are just outright dumb, even to a North American or European English-speaker. What’s wrong with Opel’s business plan? It’s superficial and says nothing that will really have an impact. If they think using trim levels like “Glam” and putting the badge on the pillar is going to sell cars they are seriously clueless. Is that the way that Hyundai improved themselves? Is that the way that BMW outsold Lexus in the US? With gimmicks? No. Opel cannot get around building vehicles that people want and that people can trust. The latter has always been a huge problem for them and will continue to be that if they continue in this vein.

      Reply
      1. Richard – understood. But it seems that you are overestimating the importance of the Jamaican market. Opel is not even sold in Jamaica directly (maybe through gray market import/export operations) – so to say that the linguistic variabilities of Jamaica as they relate to the English language aren’t important are an understatement. In other words, Jamaica is irrelevant to Opel.

        And let’s not even begin to compare Opel with Hyundai. One is a clear leader in besting whatever segment of vehicle it decides to enter. The other was in the doldrums since the beginning of times, until the last 1-2 years and even now makes cars that are by no means class leaders. So I’m in no way a proponent of gimmic-try to sells vehicles; but in the case of Adam, the naming scheme fits the target market perfectly.

        Also, as far as the business plan is concerned… Opel needs a clear brand and market plan that does not interfere with Chevy. As of right now, it would seem that no one knows what Opel is and where its going. That’s the biggest problem. The rest are really surface administrative/logistical/small scale issues that are easily solved.

        Reply
  5. The name Adam is for Adam Opel who founder of company, and does not have a thing for Biblical Adam and Eva. Beside that Opel is mostly, maybe 95% sold in Europe, so there wont be problem with name in Jamaica, because no one sold Opel in Caribbean.

    Reply
    1. I know who Adam Opel is. You simply misunderstand what I have said. I have no problem with the car being called Adam. I have a problem with the silly things that Opel is doing that they think will sell cars. It’s wasting time and resources.

      Reply
  6. Dam Richard, you know Crack do Kill right :), I mean talking about “A Mind is a Terrible Thing To Have”!! 🙂 🙂 But Seriously, I Really enjoy your comments but this one is Like Not in our Galaxy type stuff……Think about it, you can take any car on this Planet Names an Associated with any Country’s Linguistic Meaning but it don’t mean Spit…….Especially if it ain’t sold in that Country. Your Argument may be Valid……….But not with this Article, I Really think you need to Reassess your comments…..I think you will agree that it just does not Mesh with this Situation at All……….But Keep em coming Bro!! 🙂 🙂

    Reply
    1. Crack kills? A mind is a terrible thing to have? Hmmm…let’s analyse this…

      – “Dam” is spelt DAMN.
      – The sentence should read “Crack DOES kill”, since subject and verb must agree.
      – You have used capital letters in the middle of sentences, when there are no proper nouns present.
      – Several of your sentences are run-ons, having no full-stop or commas, making them incoherent and jumbled.

      I think you should be reassessing you own comments…

      “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” – Matthew 7:3.

      Reply
      1. Opel doesn´t even sell vehicles in the Carribeans, and the Adam is specially designed for Europe. Do you know e.g. what the SS name else stands for:D I gues most Europeans would rather associate the name with the Nazis than with Chevrolet. But i have to agree with you i also don´t like the trim level names!

        Reply

Leave a comment

Cancel