Opel

History

The General Motors Europe (GME) consists of Opel (Germany), Vauxhall (UK) and Saab (Sweden). The first 2 are especially important because their combined capacity reached nearly 2 million units per year, more than 10 times of Saab.

Under GME?s strategy, Opel and Vauxhall are twins. They sell the same cars in their own badges. Basically, all the cars are designed and engineered in Germany by Opel. The factory of Vauxhall just add production volume to Astra and Vectra. Opel also engineered Saturn L-series based on the Vectra. The same car provides the basis for Saab 9-3 and 9-5.

Opel / Vauxhall is one of the big six car makers in Europe. Like Ford, Renault, PSA and Fiat but unlike Volkswagen, it produces the most common cars in all important segments - Corsa, Astra, Vectra, Omega, plus the MPVs Zafira and Sintra and a few niche models. It was never famous for innovation or build quality.