Strong Comeback for Opel/Vauxhall after One Year as Part of Groupe PSA

Opel/Vauxhall has been part of Groupe #psa for twelve months – and is on the road to writing a successful comeback story. Last week, the company presented a half-year profit¹ of €502 million and an operational free cash flow of around €1.2 billion. This was made possible above all by the affiliation with Groupe #psa, which on August 1, 2017, enabled the creation of a European champion. With the strategic plan PACE!, which #opel CEO Michael Lohscheller presented just 100 days later on November 9, 2017, the company bundles its strengths, leverages synergies and unleashes the full potential of the brand. With PACE! #opel will be profitable, electric and global.

“We are a completely different company than 12 months ago. We have set the course for even more competitiveness and have already aligned many areas for the future. We are profiting massively from being part of the successful Groupe #psa. We are very grateful for this – and this is also an obligation,” says #opel CEO Michael Lohscheller.

Opel will be profitable and invest in sites

After just under one year as part of Groupe #psa, Opel/Vauxhall is back in the black. The recurring operating margin for the first half of 2018 is 5.0 per cent. This clearly shows that PACE! is working. The competitiveness of the production plants throughout Europe was significantly improved. Together with the social partners, #opel management has reached performance agreements at all European sites. This has already led to new investment decisions and product allocations across Europe.

For example, the new Corsa – also in an electric version – will be produced exclusively at the Spanish plant in Zaragoza. The next generation of the Vivaro will roll off the assembly line in Luton, England, from 2019. The Grandland X SUV will be manufactured in Eisenach from the middle of next year – including a hybrid version that will follow by 2020. New product allocations were also announced for the engine and transmission plants in Tichy (Poland), Aspern (Austria) and Szentgotthard (Hungary). Details of the planned investments in Rüsselsheim and Kaiserslautern will be announced in due course.

Important role for Rüsselsheim Engineering Center

The successful integration of Opel/Vauxhall into Groupe #psa is also reflected in the engineering organisation. The Engineering Center in Rüsselsheim plays an important role in the company and contributes typical #opel strengths to the group's global development network. With 15 Centers of Competence for various areas of technology and responsibility for the development of light commercial vehicles as well as the next generation of four-cylinder petrol engines, the Rüsselsheim Engineering Center assumes global responsibility for the entire Groupe #psa. The abilities of the various competence teams ideally complement each other as part of a global network – for the benefit of all five group brands (Opel, #vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroën and DS Automobiles). In addition, all new Opel/Vauxhall vehicles will be developed in Rüsselsheim in the future.

“At Opel/Vauxhall, the group's top technologies meet German engineering excellence. This results in outstanding vehicles with a clear profile and emotional design,” says Lohscheller. “We have always stressed that #opel remains German and #vauxhall remains British. We have further sharpened our brands in the past twelve months and I am very much looking forward to our new concept car, with which we will present our future brand face.”

Successful new models – electrification of the product portfolio

The collaboration between the development teams is well-received by customers. With the Crossland X, Mokka X and Grandland X models, Opel/Vauxhall is superbly positioned in the high-growth SUV market and leads the European SUV B segment, among others. The #opel and #vauxhall brands thus contribute to Groupe PSA’s successful SUV offensive with the X Family. In the first half of 2018, these models accounted for 167,200 vehicles sold by both brands.

Opel/Vauxhall continues its product offensive in Europe. Following the launch of the sporty Insignia GSi, the company will also launch a GSi version of the Corsa in the second half of the year. The new Combo Life passenger version and Combo commercial vehicle will also bring important momentum for growth. Next year, the all-new Corsa will follow – including a purely battery-powered electric version in 2020, which means that Opel/Vauxhall will already have four electrified vehicles on offer in 2020. By 2024, an electrified version will be available in every European passenger car line, either with pure battery drive or as a plug-in hybrid. This will be possible by the prompt use of Groupe PSA's multi-energy group platforms.

Export offensive in markets beyond Europe gains momentum: #opel goes global

With new importers in Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa and Lebanon, the company forges ahead with its goal of doubling sales outside of Europe by 2020. #opel models will be assembled in Namibia from the second half of the year. By the middle of the next decade, more than ten per cent of Opel's sales volume is to be generated outside of Europe. The company also successfully uses existing Groupe #psa structures for these activities.

- Photogallery (5)

Michael-Lohscheller-308109 0

4961x3307, 4MB

502428

4724x4724, 4MB

501176 1

4961x3307, 4MB

Opel-1-Year-PSA-503973

2806x1984, 1MB

501179

3780x2126, 1019KB

- Documents (2)

Press release

278KB

Infographic-Opel-Vauxhall-after-One-Year-as-Part-of-Groupe-PSA

1MB

Related news

december 15, 2022	february 24, 2021	january 18, 2021
Rebecca Reinermann Assigned Responsibility for Marketing of Opel/Vauxhall	Full Year 2020 Results for FCA and Groupe PSA	The merger of FCA and Groupe PSA has been completed
Rüsselsheim. #rebeccareinermann has been assigned the responsibility of leading Opel/Vauxhall marketing activities as of January ...	Amsterdam – #stellantis N.V. (NYSE / MTA / Euronext Paris: STLA) (“Stellantis”) announced on February 5, 2021 that the Fourth Quar...	The merger between Peugeot S.A. (“Groupe PSA”) and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (“FCA”) (NYSE: FCAU / MTA: FCA) that will lead t...
Automotive Corporate	Automotive Corporate	Automotive Corporate
#opel #corporate #people #vauxhall #automotive #appointments #rebeccareinermann	#psa #corporate #production #sales #fca #automotive #auto #stellantis	#psa #corporate #partnership #fca #automotive #auto #stellantis
Download all	Download all	Download all
1 2	1	1 1

You might be interested in

january 14, 2021	january 04, 2021	december 28, 2020
Worldwide sales at 2.5 Million units, in a year impacted by the health crisis	Merger of FCA and Groupe PSA approved by shareholders: FCA and Groupe PSA expect to complete the combination on January 16, 2021	Appointment of Louis-Marie Chevalier, Director of PSA Retail France
17 electrified models[1] on saleThree awards[2] from #automotive experts: Car of the Year, Autobest and IVOTYLeadership in CO2 emi...	Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (“FCA”) (NYSE: FCAU / MTA: FCA) and Peugeot S.A. (“Groupe PSA”) announce that their respective shar...	From January 1, 2021, #louismariechevalier is appointed Director of #psa Retail France. He will report to Anne Abboud, Senior Vice...
Automotive Corporate	Automotive Corporate	Automotive Corporate
#psa #corporate #sales #automotive #auto #covid19	#psa #corporate #partnership #fca #automotive	#psa #corporate #people #automotive #auto #appointments #louismariechevalier
Download all	Download all	Download all
1 1	1 1	1 2