Hooray! Opel Ventures To Foreign Growth Markets!
Opel workers, managers, German politicians and TTAC have been heard complaining that Opel is being kept out of interesting growth markets and pretty much forced to suffer in Europe. The perennial nags are being thrown a bone: GM “will build a small number of its Opel Corsa hatchbacks in Belarus from next year as its European brand seeks to diversify outside its core market,” Reuters says.
7,000 cars in the first full year of production, for sale in Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. That would be about a week’s word of a medium sized car plant, but it’s a start.
The Corsas come in parts anyway, and are assembled locally to circumvent import duties.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Opel should have no fear, look how well GM handled Saab. (Saab as a luxury brand in Europe? We don't need that. We have Cadillac. Europeans will love Cadillac.) /end of sarcasm
SAAB is maybe the wrong example to make that point. It had always been a small niche automaker and wasn't owned by GM for that long, compared to Opel. I still think the German factories could have built Buicks and sold them in Europe with the higher transaction prices needed to at least break even. Proctor and Gamble actually sells products in Europe formerly sold here, like Dash detergent. Maybe Oldsmobile and Pontiac models would have worked there, built in Opel plants alongside Opel models.
Australia a large growth market? Opel coming here recently might have more to do with GM Detroit winding back GMH Australia.