Despite being sold by General Motors to PSA Group ,Opel will continue with plans to launch a new flagship SUV and more electric cars, its chief executive Karl-Thomas Neumann told German magazine Auto Motor und Sport.
The new SUV will be the brand’s second flagship model joining the midsize Insignia sedan and wagon range. Though the vehicle in question is being referred to as an SUV, it will likely be a car-based crossover, rather than a full-fledged Sport Utility Vehicle based on a body-on-frame platform, something that the SUV moniker implies.
A new crossover will serve as Opel’s second flagship along the Insignia range (pictured)
Mr. Neumann also stated that Opel’s future holds more electric vehicles to complement the Ampera-e long-range EV, which is based on the Chevrolet Bolt EV.
The carmaker will also continue with its strategy to launch seven new models, a plan that serves as its biggest product offensive ever, according to Neumann. The chief executive will remain as the head of Opel even after the unit is acquired by the PSA Group, under which the carmaker could sell vehicles outside its home market of Europe.
Comments
So why was my real comment thrown away?
Not sure what you’re talking about… there are no comments of yours that were deleted or that are in moderation.
Opel will make money by 2018. It will finally have the SUVs needed. Amp-e will do well. Mary Barra will look ridiculous given GM quit right before an Opel turnaround.
PSA will take Opel global selling PSA rebadges until Opel births a new line up in 2023.
GM should have used Opel to form an industrial alliance focused on platform kits and powertrains. PSA, being smaller, nonetheless, would have helped GM teduce costs.
The New GM makes nice cars but it’s far from an imaginative company.
Strange — above I read “3 comments”, but only 1 is visible. The two which I left last night are not. Neither the one by Alex Luft which I got by eMail. I had a comment on the question “what is a SUV” raised in the article above, which included the list of those cars which the German KBA counts as SUV. Some piece in the WordPress software suppressed it. I will try again. Maybe it is the subscript 1 which I used in it.
“Maybe it is the subscript 1 which I used in it.” that was it, obviously. There is the Unicode bloc of superscript and subscript characters, and apparently that got WordPress to reject the whole comment.
3rd try — maybe some software entity does not like the KBA’s ALL CAPS writing, so I have changed that…
My comment vanished somewhere in the bit bucket, so I have the chance to put it in a better way, referring to this phrase ” a car-based crossover, rather than a full-fledged Sport Utility Vehicle based on a body-on-frame platform, something that the SUV moniker implies.” Does it?
The statistic of new car registrations published monthly by the German KBA (“Kraftfahrtbundesamt” – Federal Motor Car Administration) by segment and model counts the following car models in the “SUV” segment:
• Alpina XD3 Biturbo
• Audi Q2
• Bmw X1
• Bmw X4
• Cadillac SRX
• Cadillac XT5
• Chevrolet TRAX
• Citroen C4 Cactus
• Dacia Duster
• Ford Ecosport
• Ford Edge
• Ford Kuga
• Honda CR-V
• Honda HR-V
• Hyundai IX 35
• Hyundai Tucson
• Infiniti FX, QX70
• Infiniti QX30
• Kia Niro
• Kia Sportage
• Lada Niva
• Lexus NX
• Lexus RX
• Maserati Levante
• Mazda CX-3
• Mazda CX-5
• Mazda CX-9
• Mercedes GLA
• Mercedes GLK, GLC
• Mitsubishi ASX
• Mitsubishi Outlander
• Nissan Murano
• Nissan Qashqai
• Opel Antara
• Opel Mokka
• Peugeot 2008
• Peugeot 4008
• Renault Captur
• Renault Kadjar
• Seat Ateca
• Skoda Yeti
• Ssangyong Korando
• Ssangyong Tivoli
• Subaru XV
• Suzuki SX4
• Suzuki Vitara
• Tesla Model X
• Toyota C-HR
• Toyota RAV 4
• Volvo XC70
Several years ago, the KBA decided to exclude those cars from the segment of “Geländewagen” (all terrain cars) which do not fulfill the criteria for a M1G-vehicle[*] according to order 2007/46/EG, and list those cars with “off road characteristica” as SUV.
“Zu den Geländewagen zählen alle Pkw-Modelle, sobald sie als M1G-Fahrzeug gemäß Richtlinie 2007/46/EG typgenehmigt wurden. Ohne eine entsprechende Typgenehmigung werden Pkw-Modelle mit Offroad-Charakter im Segment „SUVs“ ausgewiesen.
Die von den Zulassungsbehörden mitgeteilte und im ZFZR eingetragene Fahrzeugklasse und Aufbauart ist nicht maßgebend.”
So let’s hope that this comment does not vanish in the bit bucket, too.
The 1 in “M1G” should be a subscript like in 1
So this definition of “SUV” means a car looking like an off road vehicle, without conforming with the specifications of an off-road vehicle according to the European standard definition which is layed down in
Directive 2007/46/EG by the Council and the Parliament, ANNEX II (which defines the vehicle classes) from which the definition of “offroad vehicle” is quoted:
Off-road vehicles (symbol G)
4.1. Vehicles in category N1 [commercial vehicles max 3.5 tons] with a maximum mass not exceeding two tonnes and vehicles in category M1 [passenger cars with max 8 seats] are considered to be off-road vehicles if they have:
— at least one front axle and at least one rear axle designed to be driven simultaneously including vehicles where the drive to one axle can be disengaged,
— at least one differential locking mechanism or at least one mechanism having a similar effect and if they can climb a 30 % gradient calculated for a solo vehicle.
In addition, they must satisfy at least five of the following six requirements:
— the approach angle must be at least 25 degrees,
— the departure angle must be at least 20 degrees,
— the ramp angle must be at least 20 degrees,
— the ground clearance under the front axle must be at least 180 mm,
— the ground clearance under the rear axle must be at least 180 mm,
— the ground clearance between the axles must be at least 200 mm.
Source: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32007L0046
The SUV/Crossover craze is often silly and consumers’ efforts to follow style trends.
The 500X, for example, is a CAR regardless of any promo hype. In today’s market a slightly raised AWD Astra could take on the SUV moniker. A slightly raised estate is still an estate, regardless of hype.
SUV styled vehicles mimic bad 1970s/80s American land yacht gas guzzlers. I hope gas prices increase so that the traditional sedan can make a come back.