Opel shutting down in Australia effective immediately

[Franco Cozzo]

When they shut down they should rebrand to Chevrolet I reckon.

Theres enough derros getting around with Chevrolet badges on everything anyway.

[JG66ME]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opel_Commodore

Scroll down to Commodore C 1977-1982.

Fact is Holden took the name Commodore from Opel along with the design for the original 78 Commodore. Opel had ben using it since 1968. Some nice looking cars too.

It is a fact that GM and Ford had different strategies when they expanded out of the US in the 20s and 30s. Ford took it's name overseas where GM bought a local brand and maintained the name. Opel, Vauxhall, Holden et al. Locals think they are buying local rather than American. I would have preferred Holden to continue selling Opel cars with a Holden moniker than their current line up of small to mid size cars.

Back to subject, this is sad really that Opel did not make a success. I have rented Astras in the UK and liked them. Here they offered a sporty Turbo Diesel with manual transmission, something I wish Ford would do with the Focus Titanium, turbo diesel, manual.

Job losses is also very sad.

Steven

[fte50]

Fact is that every Commodore from VB to VZ were based on Opel designs, the VE being the first truly Aussie designed model.

[JC]

Originally Posted by DJM83

What a shame. I came close to an OPC Astra too.

Hope you had some Kleenex handy......

[excopau]

they just built new building on Townsville for them lol, they will be ****ed

[jpd80]

OPEL....Das Leven Australis

[SSVPom]

Originally Posted by excopau

they just built new building on Townsville for them lol, they will be ****ed

Yep, Eastside Opel just opened in Nunawading here.

[Bossxr8]

What an absolute waste of time and money. Damn GM are good.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by Vormund

Umm not Renault...because that also has Nissan behind it. Also from what I've seen, at least here in Adelaide, Nissan and Renault are always on the same lot.

Originally Posted by csv8

Infiniti has Nissan behind it...they might be here for the long haul. Alfa, Fiat, Renault have had a re-launch..maybe one of them???

Er, Renault owns Nissan and Infiniti, not the other way around. And Renault have gone from strength to strength since the Ex Mini Ops Manager Justin Hocevar has been at the wheel, so probably barking up the wrong tree.

Infiniti will be next. I actually saw 3 Opels in one year and many dealers. I've seen one Infiniti in 2 years, and still haven't seen a dealer.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

What an absolute waste of time and money. Damn GM are good.

What's so sad is all the believers who have invested millions in dealerships, GM should reimburse every single one of them.
This all about GM pedaling Horse**** that they believe and convince others it true too..

This is another example of GM not understanding the Australian market.

[KIWI-1]

Originally Posted by jpd80

What's so sad is all the believers who have invested millions in dealerships, GM should reimburse every single one of them.

Did the believers invest the money or Opel?

“We are extremely proud of our Opel dealer network. Our partners include some of the nation’s most successful and well regarded dealers,” Mr Mott said.
“Their significant investment in unique, stand-alone Opel facilities is a testament to the potential they ascribe to the brand in Australia.”

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by KIWI-1

Did the believers invest the money or Opel?

Franchise agreements...

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Franchise agreements...

Opel should pay damages I would of thought?

I have a feeling Holden and GM to an extent never wanted Opel here. The move here was orchestrated by Opel management in Germany as Australia is seen as a good test market for global expansion.

Opel management do have the rep being a bit arrogant so I'm not surprised by all this.

[Franco Cozzo]

Will all the currently built Opel dealerships be changed to another brand? Is it as simple as keeping the building, buying into a franchise and swapping the signs over?

Why couldn't they have brought in their cars under the Holden banner rather than building new dealerships etc?

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Will all the currently built Opel dealerships be changed to another brand? Is it as simple as keeping the building, buying into a franchise and swapping the signs over?

Why couldn't they have brought in their cars under the Holden banner rather than building new dealerships etc?

I heard a rumor that there was a boat load of Zafiras on the water,
I hope that Opel cancelled early enough to prevent that happening.......

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by jpd80

I heard a rumor that there was a boat load of Zafiras on the water,
I hope that Opel cancelled early enough to prevent that happening.......

It probably is true, any new stock will be sent from Australia to other countries. Demos and registered cars will be sold.

[aussiblue]

Er, Renault owns Nissan and Infiniti, not the other way around. And Renault have gone from strength to strength since the Ex Mini Ops Manager Justin Hocevar has been at the wheel, so probably barking up the wrong tree.

NOT TRUE EITHER. Renault and Nissan have an alliance signed on 27 March 1999. The Renault–Nissan Alliance is the first of its kind involving a Japanese and a French company, each with its own distinct corporate culture and brand identity, linked through cross-shareholding. Renault initially acquires a 36.8% stake at a cost of US$3.5 billion in Nissan, while Nissan in turn has a 15 percent stake (non-voting) in Renault.

Renault continued to operate as a stand-alone company, but with the intent to collaborate with its alliance partner to reduce costs in developing new products. In the same year Renault bought 99% of the Romanian company Dacia, thus returning after 30 years, in which time the Romanians built over 2 million cars, which primarily consisted of the Renault 8, 12 and 20." See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault

The Renault-Nissan Alliance has evolved over years to Renault holding 44.3% of Nissan shares, while Nissan holds 15% of Renault shares which does not give Nissan a voting or board representation due to legal restrictions in France.

Under CEO Ghosn's "Nissan Revival Plan" (NRP), the company has rebounded in what many leading economists consider to be one of the most spectacular corporate turnarounds in history, catapulting Nissan to record profits and a dramatic revitalization of both its Nissan and Infiniti model line-ups. In 2001, the company initiated Nissan 180, capitalizing on the success of the NRP. The targets set with 180 were an additional sale of 1 million cars, achieving operating margins of 8%, and to have zero automotive debts. Ghosn has been recognized in Japan for the company's turnaround in the midst of an ailing Japanese economy. Ghosn and the Nissan turnaround were featured in Japanese manga and popular culture. His achievements in revitalizing Nissan were noted by Japanese Government, which awarded him the Japan Medal with Blue Ribbon in 2004.[28]

On April 7, 2010, Daimler AG exchanged a 3.9% share of its holdings for 3.9% from both Nissan and Renault. This triple alliance allows for the increased sharing of technology and development costs, encouraging global cooperation and mutual development.[29] The alliance with Daimler is believed to have a focus on battery/electric technologies."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_...e_with_Renault

[KIWI-1]

deleted

[Danny]

Originally Posted by aussiblue

NOT TRUE EITHER.

Thanks for that, but a 44% stake means that what I said isn't entirely untrue either.. The point from my post still stands.

[Jason[98.EL]]

Originally Posted by Brazen

It probably is true, any new stock will be sent from Australia to other countries. Demos and registered cars will be sold.

what happens to the stock that a dealer has on the floor

our local dealer here in geelong has close to 20 in their yard and that is only what we can see from the road they are our local nissan mitsu ford and other and has big holding areas ( one including unused areas of the building I work in (they own it ) )

[KIWI-1]

Offloading via Holden?

[aussiblue]

Thanks for that, but a 44% stake means that what I said isn't entirely untrue either.. The point from my post still stands

How 44% even before discounting it by part of the 15% Nissan has in Renault majority shareholding let alone ownership ? Noting also that Nissan Net Worth is US $48.1 Billion while Renault's Net Worth is about US $34 billion even after taking into account its shareholding in Nissan

[aussiblue]

But I will concede that having the same French-Lebanese-Brazilian Carlos Ghosn as the Chair of Renault, Nissan and the Alliance probably means he has more say than the Japanese.

[danzvtil]

This just goes to show how financially shaky opel germany is.
They launch here to gain volume that they are not getting in europe, at a HUGE outlay and that of all the dealers who signed on, then only give it TWELVE MONTHS!! Something smells.

[Jason[98.EL]]

Originally Posted by KIWI-1

Offloading via Holden?

not sure how that would work as our opel dealer is also our Ford dealer

[97Fairmont]

OPEL WHO??? Didn't even know they were here... lol

[GQ_Smooth]

Took and Insignia OPC out for a drive, really wanted to love it. Was a good size, nice features. Was okay but unfortunately nothing special, nice car if a little slow compared to the FPV/HSV offering.

Opel in Australia, was Opel trying to justify their existence to GM. They believe they are a valuable brand that has it's own global following and can be sold as an upmarket GM product to ALA Cadillac . As mentioned by others they thought with our low import tariffs we would be a relatively easy market to penetrate. How wrong they were.

[KIWI-1]

Originally Posted by GQ_Smooth

Opel in Australia, was Opel trying to justify their existence to GM. They believe they are a valuable brand that has it's own global following and can be sold as an upmarket GM product to ALA Cadillac.

To some extent they are... but then tried to sell their "premium" products in the $19,990 drive away segment. The competitors in the "upmarket" bracket are $30,000 plus.

[Bossxr8]

They had sales targets of 15,000 cars a year within 3 years, they sold around 1500 first year. Massive fail.

[Buntz]

Good Riddance