And what will happen to Opel?

After the merger of the Peugeot group PSA with Fiat-Chrysler in January, the question arises as to the future of Opel, the only German brand of the new car giant Stellantis.

From Lothar Gries, tagesschau.de As early as 2017, soon after the takeover by PSA, there was an abundance of office space at the Opel headquarters. Because the French subjected the deficit German manufacturer to a strict austerity course that lost thousands of jobs. The emptiness was short-lived, however. Soon after the takeover, the German headquarters for the Peugeot, Citroën and DS brands moved from Cologne to Rüsselsheim. It has now been announced that the German subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is moving to the Opel premises. The car company Stellantis, which was founded in January, wants to control its business in Germany from there. While the office space is being brought to new life, the question remains of what place Opel will still have in the future, in the world’s fourth-largest car company, which comprises 14 brands. It is still too early to answer this question. But there is good news: The planned battery production at the Opel plant in Kaiserslautern is secured. As Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares announced at today’s general meeting, production should start at the end of 2025, two years after the start of a similar plant in France. “The supply of batteries will be strategically crucial,” said Tavares. According to earlier statements by Opel boss Michael Lohscheller, 2000 jobs will be created in Kaiserslautern. Nevertheless, there is great uncertainty among the Opel workforce. Because experts fear that the brand will face the same fate in the medium term as the former German TV manufacturers Grundig or Telefunken: The brands still exist, but they have long been backed by owners from Turkey, where the devices are also manufactured.

Experts fear new job cuts

Opel has already had to close one of its four plants in Germany (Bochum). And the company’s market share has shrunk significantly in recent years. In the best of times, 1.5 million vehicles were sold annually, last year it was only 630,000, including those from the British sister brand Vauxhall. After all, Opel is back in the black – an important turnaround after years of losses. But Stellantis must continue to be trimmed for returns. Five billion euros should be saved annually – three quarters of that by the end of 2024. To do this, as many identical parts as possible would have to be used for as many models as possible, says car expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer. He therefore fears further job cuts. Frank Schwope, industry observer at Norddeutsche Landesbank, is also convinced that only by reducing the enormous overcapacities in the entire group can it be prevented that Stellantis does not become Atlantis.

Is the “Made in Germany” quality sufficient?

Insiders therefore suspect that production in individual factories could be discontinued – for example at the Eisenach site, where the Grandland X urban off-road vehicle is being built. The main plant in Rüsselsheim could be downgraded to an assembly site for various Stellantis brands. In addition to the Opel flagship Insignia, a DS vehicle, the DS 4 from Citroen, will soon be built there. In an interview with the magazine “Capital”, Opel boss Lohscheller refers to the quality of the vehicles “Made in Germany”. As the only German brand in the group, this helps people perceive it. The engineers also succeeded in building a “real Opel” from the Corsa and Mokka models, despite the uniform platform. Someone “who feels this way, looks this way and drives this way”.

Opel also wants to sell cars in China

Lohscheller also hopes to finally be able to sell Opel vehicles in China. Like many other brands of the Stellantis Group, the brand with the lightning bolt is hardly represented there. China is the largest car market in the world. CEO Tavares recently spoke of a disappointing performance in the People’s Republic, which must improve. This is exactly where Lohscheller sees an opportunity. “I have the great hope that we will find a way that Opel comes to China because it is the largest car market in the world,” he said in an interview with the magazine “Capital”. A decision has not yet been made as to how and whether Opel will be involved in the planned China strategy.

Does the “heart” of Opel have to keep bleeding?

The question of the development center in Rüsselsheim, often referred to as the “heart” of Opel, has also not been resolved. Even now, of the 7,000 highly qualified employees, only 4,500 are left after a partial sale. Still too much, experts believe, because both PSA and FCA each employ a good 18,000 engineers in development. Expert Dudenhöffer therefore considers at least a third of the 36,000 jobs obsolete, because no car company needs four large development centers in the USA, Turin, Paris and Rüsselsheim, the expert said in an interview with the dpa news agency. Opel boss Lohscheller answers evasively when asked about the future of the Rüsselsheim development center. In a large corporation there is always internal competition, he said in mid-March. That triggers a lot of motivation and energy. He repeated almost defiantly: “Our development center is and will remain the heart of the Opel brand”.