With the future profitability of Opel still very much in the air, the U.K.’s CAR magazine interviewed Opel chief Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann to gauge how he plans on handling the situation, and bringing the German automaker back to black in Europe.
The interview – what with its long, meandering responses and broken English – isn’t the easiest read, but Dr. Neumann’s faith in Opel’s future basically rests on this: that as a part of General Motors, Opel has the benefit of economies of scale, and access to the GM parts bin. What remains to be done is to regain public perception following years of lackluster products, to expand into new markets, and look closely at finances.
On the subject of that last point, Dr. Neumann mentions the automaker’s flagship Bochum, Germany plant, which is closing due to overcapacity. If that’s not enough, Opel’s exporting cars badged as Holdens and Buicks ought to help thin out the maker’s production capacity.
Dr. Neumann also cited both the Mokka and the Adam as examples of entering new markets, and attracting new buyers, respectively. “[The Mokka’s] success came from entering a new segment,” said the chief. “It’s a brand ambassador because it’s getting new customers into Vauxhall/Opel stores.” Likewise, the Adam is attracting new younger, often female, buyers.
Beyond that, the quality of Opel’s current lineup has the task of speaking for itself. “We are not premium, we are in the middle of society, not cheap but affordable, something which you really want but you can also get,” said Neumann.
As for making any larger cars, the chief said that he’s often asked, but that it’s far from important for the automaker at the present. “I have more urgent product ideas than a car beyond Insignia, even though everyone says you should do a Monza or a large Opel again.”
Comments
Hope there is a big saloon planned to fit above Insignia for those of us who need/want/have such a model & don’t want a MPV or SUV.
today, it is important that the new Astra and Insignia be ideal. nedega and must act quickly. I guess you can see the new Astra is on sale soon, but it should also reach out faster than otherwise planned. strange that the new insignia for the prototype has not yet been concealed or so easily. Because of this, Karl, and corsa such as they are at the .after the new Astra and Insignia should make a perfect new corsa.
Opel to be more aggressive. to act quickly. be of good quality. Attention to detail quality. and operating pursuant to the fastest cars on the market, and lead. new cars will arrive too late on the market. Computers are like cars that quickly vavanevad and there is no point to keep in stock anywhere. See how quickly the other major manufacturers operating in VAG-BMW-MB. operating pursuant to slowly make them bigger steps. mb operating pursuant to the slower but it makes a very big steps. vag-bmw act quickly and offer upgraded models all the time. each day will come facelift models.
competition is tough to survive and others are doing great work in order that the competition would be fierce. vw visibly moving away from Opel. VW began seriously to move in 2000’s. Yes Opel is at present only to come out of the old debt. However, in order to come up with võlst supposed to be a success. it does not matter. if there should be a change of strategy is ready. stretches all the current strategy. Opel itself seems to make life difficult for myself drawn and do more work than necessary. Corsa facelift and Karl redundant work
Today as you put it, the range is ideal – there isn’t much if anything can better Adam, New Corsa, Mokka, Astra, Cascada, Insignia & VXR8 in their respective classes, yet nothing stays still & it’s about improvement all the time.
Mocha and Cascada should get a new dashboard. that no more cars are sold does not mean that they are good. if the car is cheap does not mean it is good. or if the car is cheap and can be bought more of it does not mean that the car is good. I’m a lover of Opel. I do not care how much I am interested in Opel cars sold in the Opel would be best. Opel Mokka competitors in Europe are at a high level is beyond comprehension.
Opel has a very wide range of models of late. I say that has outlived almost all Opel models, even Adam.
Use inernetti and what vaadakae cars in Europe are moving in different machine classes. here it is kind of a circus shop. Here is the importance of cutting-edge technology and the quality and design of each detail. and in all classes of the machine is monitored with tiny pieces of quality. In Europe, the car is not like toilet paper is that it is important that sold a lot, and it’s cheap.
I have a hard look at just how Opel goes off. Opel is in my heart and I can not change it. Opel has to get back into a timetable. I do not know when it will happen. the new Passat and Ford Mondeo is already on sale. Now comes the new Skoda Superb. Opel Insignia is already behind schedule. now that the new Opel Insignia does not take a very big step forward will be a disaster.
America and Europe are so different. very different car cultures. and it makes it very difficult to co gm om various entities. All people just do not understand each other and do not understand what someone needs.
the most important thing is that the cars are super ideal, and then come to the sales success. not that chased the top sales success. and produced a lot of crap to sell.
I find this very interesting:
CAR: Chevrolet has pulled out of Europe: give me an appraisal of what this opportunity means for Opel?
It’s okay, it’s even good to act with different brands in a market because there is increasing customer segmentation. But the brands have to be clearly separate, Chevrolet’s positioning was very much on the budget side in Europe, which is not Chevrolet’s world positioning, because of the Daewoo history, and that simply didn’t work with the product we had. [Opel and Chevy] had increasingly similar product in the showroom where one was going for budget customers and the other going for middle customers, which led to all kinds of problems in the showroom, and it also led to problems with the financial performance of Chevrolet in Europe.
Unfortunately KTN has just become another lack lustre Opel Executive who does not fully understand what the core problems with Opel are. He needs to ask two simple questions – why is Opel not mirroring the success of Vauxhall? And why did he not see the problems in Russia sooner? I and many others did, it was obvious. I am totally against sanctions against Russia because the damage to Europe is just as bad as it is for the Russians – what did KTN expect to happen? That Russia would just roll over and accept the sanctions without retaliation, I expect the list of excuses for missing targets are already being prepared for 2016 at Russelsheim. What GM needs is a leader that knows what they are doing, can inspire confidence and at least have some sort of charisma – unfortunatley KTN has none of these qualities. Maybe its time to drag Duncan Aldred back from GMC!
I simply cannot understand why you always mention Vauxhall. Vauxhall is not more than rebranded Opels with some differences concerning the chassis. Vauxhall is nothing without Opel. KTN is also CEO of Vauxhall BTW.
Vauxhall has the luck to be the only domestic brand in a very strong market.
When I read comments on British sites I read exactly the same kind of comments I read in German sites. Vauxhall has also very severe image problems.
KTN is absolutely the right man. He is the first one who has understood that Opel (and Vauxhall too) has to change its image first. He understands where the market is going to. He has reacted very fast to the situation in Russia. So whats your Problem with KTN?
I have the feeling that you are blended by your British nationalism which prevents you from looking at the situation in an objective way.
The answer is simple Vauxhall accounts for 1/3rd of all GM sales in Europe, that is ONE brand in ONE country. The UK market is smaller than Germany and has exactly the same competition for Vauxhall as Opel does. The result has nothing whatsoever to do with luck, you do not become the number 2 brand in a highly competitive market for the last 10 years with an image problem!
Tim Tozer is Chairman & Managing Director of Vauxhall and it is he that is in charge of the day to day running of Vauxhall NOT Newman – thank god.
You are correct Vauxhall is nothing without Opel but as I have said to you many times NO VAUXHALL = NO OPEL, you could not operate the organization as we have today with 33% of it’s sales gone.
KTN understands that OPEL has to change it’s image, Vauxhall does not need anything other than some tweeks which have been ongoing for years. Remember for nearly every model in the range the UK is the largest market that situation does not come about through luck.
KTN did not react AT ALL when the problems with Russia started, he like many other ineffectual corporate officials thought the problem would be over & done with in a few months and KTN continued to predict sales would remain on target, only when it became blindingly obvious to everybody did he act and now we have the start of the excuses. Don’t get me wrong he is not the only one caught out by this but if he is so good then why did he not see it coming?
British nationalism has got nothing to with my objectivity, the facts speak for themselves. Opel’s image problem is not going to be solved by stupid adverts with kittens. KTN is a “suit”, when you listen to his press conference speeches they are about as interesting as reading a telephone directory only less informative! I am 100% behind Opel succeeding and getting back to profitability (remember in 1975 they were the No1 selling brand in Germany) but unfortunately KTN is not the man to do it. Finally, if Vauxhall are selling so many cars in the UK I think it is justifiable to question why and why it can’t it be done in Germany and the rest of Europe.
Opel have spent a lot of time and money in launching very good new cars & engines but the sales have remained almost static – something is seriously wrong and it needs fixing quickly otherwise GM will simply stop covering the losses and you will loose Opel and I will loose Vauxhall here in the UK.
BTW Happy New Year!
Vauxhall does NOT make one third of the sales of GM Europe…that’s simply completely wrong!! GM Europe (=Opel/Vauxhall and Chevy) sells more than 1.2 Million cars in Europe including Russia and Turkey, Vauxhall makes maybe 280k.
UK is another market than Germany…you have no other domestic mainstream brand in UK. And by the way tehre is not everything fine with Vauxhall. I am sure you have noticed that Vauxhall is loosing market share in UK. But as I said so many times before, your seperation between Vauxhall and Opel is stupid and does not reflect the reality. It is one team!
“NO VAUXHALL = NO OPEL” That’s also very speculative. Without Vauxhall Opel would also sell cars in UK but under the Opel brand as it does in Ireland or any other European country. It wouldn’t sell as much cars as Vauxhall does, yes, but (and that’s the point) there would also be no need to have two British plants!!! These plants only extist because of the hitoric decision to rebrand Opel as Vauxhalls in the UK.
Another fact: Opels image has begun to struggle when Opel had to develop cars for the British market in the 70’s or let me say develop ist cars with the British market in mind. A market where lower quality and lower prices counted more then in the rest of Western Europe. That’s a historic fact, take a history book.
So I say, without Vauxhall (or without rebranding Opels as Vauxhalls in the 1970s) Opel would have done far better today.
Concerning the image, Opel has improved its image dramatically within the last 12 months. There are many studies to approve that. KTN and Tina Müller make a very good job when it comes to improve the brand’s image. Opel has also increased ist market share in Germany and many other other European countries such s Spain, France or Italy…
In Russia no other car maker reacted as quickly and hard as Opel/GME did. Read a newspaper please!
The danger of killing Opel/Vauxhall is banned. Chevy has retreted from Western Europe and Opel is also responsible for a great part of the Buick and in future the Holden portfolio. Without Opel/Vauxhall, Buick can’t be profitable. Without Opel/Vauxhall, GM is no longer present in Westren Europe. GM would also fall behind Toyota, Volkswagen and Hyundai… Another try of GM to sell cars under Chevy or any other brand will fail in Europe. GM is not stupid enough to do that.
…and a happy year to you.
“Vauxhall does NOT make one third of the sales of GM Europe…that’s simply completely wrong!! GM Europe (=Opel/Vauxhall and Chevy) sells more than 1.2 Million cars in Europe including Russia and Turkey, Vauxhall makes maybe 280k” – WRONG AS USUAL!
Sales Results – January to November 2014 – European Union & EFTA Countries – General Motors as listed on GM Authority 17.12.14:
Vauxhall – Opel = 802,536 units
Chevrolet = 35,748 units
GM US = 149 units
Total GM Europe Sales = 838,433 Vauxhall Sales Jan to Nov 2014 = 274,034 which is 32.68% of the total.
“UK is another market than Germany…you have no other domestic mainstream brand in UK” WRONG AGAIN! We have MINI for a start, and despite not making a single vehicle in the UK Ford are still considered a domestic brand, then you have Nissan, Toyota & Honda all making mainstream cars in the UK.
“And by the way there is not everything fine with Vauxhall. I am sure you have noticed that Vauxhall is loosing market share in UK.” CORRECT but that is because the market is growing at a slightly faster rate than Vauxhall sales are increasing (up 3.31% YTD) and that is nearly all accounted for by the drop in Astra sales ahead of the new Astra K.
“But as I said so many times before, your seperation between Vauxhall and Opel is stupid and does not reflect the reality. It is one team!” It is one team (GM Europe) but one part of the team (Vauxhall) is doing a lot better than the other!
““NO VAUXHALL = NO OPEL” That’s also very speculative. Without Vauxhall Opel would also sell cars in UK but under the Opel brand as it does in Ireland or any other European country. It wouldn’t sell as much cars as Vauxhall does, yes, but (and that’s the point) there would also be no need to have two British plants!!! These plants only exist because of the historic decision to re-brand Opel as Vauxhall in the UK.” WRONG YET AGAIN!
Both Ellesmere Port (Built in 1964) & the Vivaro plant at Luton (Built in 1969) had to compete for what they get to build which is why Bocham closed (I think that was covered in the newspapers!) Opel is only sold in Southern Ireland because of a throwback to the troubles in Northern Ireland in the 70s & 80s and anti British sentiment, also along the border with Northern Ireland most people from the South buy a Vauxhall instead of Opel because the taxation means Vauxhalls are cheaper. Opel sold cars in the UK from 1969 until 1987 and were a total flop, there is no reason to assume it would be any different today, and do not forget It would not take much of a drop in sales to force the closure of another GM Europe factory and it is highly likely it would be in Germany not the UK.
“Another fact: Opels image has begun to struggle when Opel had to develop cars for the British market in the 70′s or let me say develop ist cars with the British market in mind. A market where lower quality and lower prices counted more then in the rest of Western Europe. That’s a historic fact, take a history book.
So I say, without Vauxhall (or without rebranding Opels as Vauxhalls in the 1970s) Opel would have done far better today.” WRONG AGAIN! What a load of horse s..t! For a start in the 1970s Vauxhall was still designing its cars the Luton Styling & Engineering Centre, and are honestly asking me to believe that Opel designed its cars to be cheap & crappy to please British car buyers!!! What planet are you on? Opel were a force to be reckoned with in the German market right up to the mid 1990s until a shitty little man called Jose Ingacio Lopez decided he would force down the price of every component purchased and as a result Opel quality & sales suffered and to cap it all he stole a load of confidential documents and pissed off to VW. I don’t need any history lessons about Vauxhall I worked there and when I left I became Vauxhall historian which is why I run the world’s largest Vauxhall reference & information site!
“Concerning the image, Opel has improved its image dramatically within the last 12 months. There are many studies to approve that. KTN and Tina Müller make a very good job when it comes to improve the brand’s image. Opel has also increased ist market share in Germany and many other other European countries such s Spain, France or Italy…” WRONG KTN & Muller may have tried to improve Opels image but there is no study that proves Opel’s image is improving and the sales do not reflect it. Market share may have improved slightly BUT that’s an improvement on record low percentages.
“In Russia no other car maker reacted as quickly and hard as Opel/GME did. Read a newspaper please!”
WRONG – Almost every other car brand acted quicker than GM and I not only read the newspapers but also watch Russian television as well.
“The danger of killing Opel/Vauxhall is banned. Chevy has retreated from Western Europe and Opel is also responsible for a great part of the Buick and in future the Holden portfolio. Without Opel/Vauxhall, Buick can’t be profitable. Without Opel/Vauxhall, GM is no longer present in Westren Europe. GM would also fall behind Toyota, Volkswagen and Hyundai… Another try of GM to sell cars under Chevy or any other brand will fail in Europe. GM is not stupid enough to do that.” AT LAST SOMETHING WE CAN AGREE ON – ALMOST!
I agree about the worldwide importance of Vauxhall – Opel models but GM is a business and it has already been overtaken by Toyota & nearly by VW so I am unsure what price GM puts on being top of world sales table. They could easily kill Buick in the US and keep the name for China. The problem is the losses in Europe are so huge it could come to the point where GM simply cannot afford to cover them. There are positive signs, the new Viva / Karl will cover a sector of the market that was right in Chevrolet’s previous slot and I think will be a success.
Economic nationalism plays a role in every European market–something everyone seems to ignore.
Such sentiment is why Vauxhall outpaces Opel; explains FIAT in Italy; PSA in France.
VW dulls both Opel and Ford sales in Germany. This certainly has a lot to do with VWs reputation for quality, pricing and larger fleet.
Opel and Vauxhall are in a good place right now concerning product. In addition to Karl, a Sonic and Cruze based varients should be added to the line up budget minded consumers (think Skoda).
As for the main Opel line up, it must offer Audi like quality at a VW price point therefore a race to the bottom.
Opel as a disruptive force has the power to thrive by transforming the European automotive landscape.