As President Opel said, "Opel is sending a fresh wind of change to the world". Indeed, in that era, Opel was definitely a clean stream among car companies. It brought different feelings to the world with Opel lightning, and also injected fresh air into China auto market through Enron and Astra models. However, Opel's trip to China was not as smooth as everyone thought. Due to the high price of imported cars at that time and the narrow domestic automobile market, the brand was not promoted for a long time. After 22 years' efforts, Opel officially withdrew from the China market in 20 15.
In the China market, Opel is not far away.
In fact, as early as the beginning of the century, it was difficult to see Opel hanging "lightning" on domestic roads. As a pure imported brand, Opel's trip to China is really too difficult. However, although the Opel brand has become a niche, Opel's blood can still be seen everywhere.
Before World War I (193 1) and World War II, Opel was formally acquired by the American General Motors Group. At this time, General Motors officially opened a subsidiary in Europe. In fact, decades have passed, and this blood relationship has continued. As one of the oldest automobile manufacturers in Europe, Opel has accumulated rich experience in vehicle design and manufacturing. And provided a lot of technical and design support for GM.
In Europe, thousands of miles away from North America, Opel has undertaken a lot of R&D tasks for GM. In four R&D and test centers, Opel has developed more than 10 kinds of power systems and components for GM. Among them, the three global passenger car platforms, Gamma, Epsilon and Delta, which are widely used by Buick, Chevrolet and other brands, and the main design of the global platform D2XX are also completed by Opel.
In other words, almost all domestic general motors have Opel blood. On the Delta platform of Opel Astra Astra, Chevrolet Cruze, Buick Hideo and other models were derived. On the Epsilon platform of Opel Veda, general-purpose intermediate front-drive vehicles such as Regal and LaCrosse were born ... In addition, Opel, Chevrolet, Buick and other brands also have a large number of brand-changing vehicles. For example, after the European security guard Della hung the "golden bow tie" sign, it became a Chevrolet copaci; Buick Regal appeared in front of us after Opel Insua hung up the three shield logo.
Indeed, for GM, Opel from Europe is almost the "technical cow" of this huge automobile group. In addition to GM's standard American traditional cars, almost all other technologies come from Opel. However, because GM declared bankruptcy in 2009, the Opel brand was also affected, and since then, the Opel brand has entered a loss-making dilemma. In order to reverse GM's losses, GM decided to sell the Opel brand.
As early as 2009, GM's sale of Opel was put on the agenda. However, Opel has repeatedly denied Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co., Ltd.; Belgian investment company RHJ；; ; The acquisition intention of a joint acquirer composed of Canadian spare parts company Magna and Russian Savings Bank. Due to the failure of the acquisition, Opel also brought a new car through technical output during this period, which contributed to GM's "turning over". But as the saying goes, twisted melon is not sweet. Eight years later on 20 17, PSA from France showed great interest in Opel. Under the influence of various factors, Opel and GM finally broke up and PSA took over.
PSA holds hands with FCA, where should Opel go?
After French PSA entered Opel, PSA released heavy news in 20 19: PSA will merge with FCA (Fiat-Chrysler Alliance). This time, the merger of the two auto giants is progressing smoothly. However, Opel has not been abandoned by PSA, and has joined new alliances with brands such as vauxhall, Peugeot and Citroen. How does Opel stand out among Peugeot, Citroen, Fiat, Jeep and other brands in this increasingly powerful automobile brand front? Is it unique by technology? Or get together with other brands to keep warm? Obviously, group executives chose the latter.
After entering PSA and the merger of PSA and FCA, Opel, who once propped up half of GM, finally got a breathing space. At present, with PSA's acquisition of Opel, the research and development and production of most of Opel's engines will not continue. But because the main battlefield of PSA is in the European market, and most of them are small cars. For PSA in China market, it is urgent to develop medium-sized cars. According to Opel's existing horizontal front-wheel drive medium-sized car platform and PSA's advanced power technology, it is not difficult to build a medium-sized car that is more suitable for China or the US market.
But at the same time, adopting Opel platform is not a long-term solution for PSA. As a PSA that has made great achievements in the chassis field, it does not need Opel's traditional skills. Therefore, in the later stage, Opel's vehicle platform will be phased out and PSA's own technology will be adopted instead. There is actually a deeper reason behind this, that is, PSA hopes to revive markets outside Europe, especially the promising China market, through the Opel brand.
What will happen if Opel, owned by PSA, becomes attached to China again?
In the hands of American GM, the German brand Opel has never been the "main attack" in the China market, which is actually selfish. On the one hand, the Opel brand entered the China market early, but it was unpopular for a long time. If the brand is directly imported into China for localization, GM will not be able to bear unknown risks; On the other hand, the China market is a huge cake, and GM naturally prefers American brands such as Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac to play the leading role, rather than giving way to a German brand. Therefore, in the past ten years, Opel has been a "technical cow".
But after entering PSA, after PSA and FCA merged, things changed. Since PSA and FCA entered China, Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat have played an exquisite and economical image in the China market. Chrysler with luxury potential seems to be unpopular in China; Citroen's luxury brand DS is too maverick to be widely loved by consumers in China. If PSA and FCA want to return to the high-end automobile market in China at this time, they must find another way.
At present, PSA, Opel's new owner, has also released wind. Olivier, executive vice president of PSA Group, president of China District and vice chairman of Shenlong Company, revealed that the merger of PSA and FCA will bring some benefits to Shenlong Company in the manufacturing field, "there may be new brand (introduction) opportunities". Under the current PSA, the new brands in China market include vauxhall besides Opel. However, as a British brand, vauxhall may not be widely accepted in China market. At this point, in the eyes of PSA and Dongfeng Shenlong, only Opel is left.
In China, the image of German automobile brands has always been linked to the high-end atmosphere, and all German brands have good sales in China. At this time, the PSA of China market of Shenlong Automobile Company happened to have no German brand. Opel, which comes from Germany and has a long history, naturally undertakes the advocate of PSA- Shenlong automobile brand innovation.
As early as July, we saw it in the information of appearance patent application of the State Patent Office. Opel Grand? Declaration information of X model. And interestingly, Opel Glen? The applicant for the new X car is PSA Automobile Co., Ltd. ... Combined with the previous speculation, we can almost assume that PSA plans to introduce the Opel brand in China, and even make the assumption that this highly positioned SUV should become the first domestic model under the Opel brand after the official establishment of Shenlong Opel.
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Turn around and find that the world is a circle. Several decades ago, GAC became attached to Peugeot. Today, Dongfeng PSA, we see the indissoluble bond between this French car company and China. Now, we are fortunate to see an old friend again. This time Opel will enter China again, and its appearance will definitely be different from that of more than 20 years ago. On the new owner, Opel will not only bring back all the once beliefs and feelings, but also bring a new atmosphere and become a real clean stream in the China automobile market!
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.