The Opel Supervisory Board decided earlier this week that Opel’s Ruesselsheim plant in Germany will be the recipient of a €245 million (almost $337 million) investment from General Motors.
Opel already builds four variants of its Insignia model plus the Zafira Tourer that begins production in 2015. Two future vehicles that are to be added to plant operations by the end of the decade will be a brand-new model and another variant of the Insignia, which hasn’t been specified. The Ruesselsheim plant will also be the home of a future Buick to be sold in the US.
With this decision, it seems Buick will become more German than Cadillac, which often benchmarks ze Germans.
“With the investment in a new, additional model for Ruesselsheim, we will take another important step in our multi-billion dollar model offensive with which we will pave the way for Opel’s profitable growth,” GM President and Opel Supervisory Board Chairman Dan Ammann said. Added Opel CEO Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann; ” the Buick production in Ruesselsheim will further improve our capacity utilization.”
Comments
Another version of Insignia will be definitely be Calibra, and new model could be Opel version of Enclave, or new Antara if they move production from South Korea.
In light of this other information about a bunch of Opel Cascada convertibles running tests in Colorado, this new variant of the Insignia/Regal might be a convertible on the basis of the Insignia.
The Cascada is already a cross-over of Astra (aka Buick Excelle and Buick Verano ) and Insignia, and might have problems to get “federalised”, as it is. And on the other hand, an Insignia convertible might be seen as to close in its dimensions to the Cascada, precluding its marketing in Europe alongside the slightly smaller Cascada.
The result could be a “Regal convertible”, maybe called “Buick Riviera”
The next generation Adam will definitely not produced in Ruesselsheim, but in Eisenach. With the closure of GM’s Oshawa assembly plant in Canada they have to find another plant to produce the next generation Buick Regal. But with around 20,000 units sold last year in North America it doesn’t make sense to continue local Buick Regal production. In this case it makes sense to built the next Regal again in Germany, because it is a rebadged version of the Insignia anyway and GM/Opel can further improve its capacity at the Ruesselsheim plant. In my opinion the other variant of the Insignia is very likely a coupe or Calibra successor. I’ve read in a newspaper where a German Opel employee said that this new model will look like a SUV.
Let us be clear that there are two different new models to produce in the Rüsselsheim factory, namely
• a) a new Opel model, which will be revealed at the end of this year;
• b) a new variant of the Insignia for Buick NA (where the Insignia goes by the name Regal, as with Buick China).
a) might be the next generation Antara or something completely different, like a larger SUV (mind you, that there is an agreement with PSA to build what is considered to be the successor to the Zafira in PSA’s Sochaux plant).
Re : Vall. Who said anything about the closing of the Oshawa Plant? The Buick Regal is built on the Flex Line along with the new 2014 Impala, Cadillac XTS and Camaro. If you have information on this plant closing please share!
Could a longer Insignia & LaCrosse replacement be the yet unknown model.
2015 insignia-regal
http://www.carscoops.com/2014/03/u-design-concept-for-next-opelvauxhall.html
This week’s decisions by the Opel Aufsichtsrat (supervisory board) do not concern the next generation Opel Insignia, but two different vehicles:
a) another variant of the current Insignia for the Buick NA brand;
and
b) a different model than the Insignia, but for Opel/Vauxhall brand.