Should General Motors Revive the Opel Brand in India?

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Another IAB reader spots an Opel Corsa in Bangaluru

GM had a forgettable innings in India with its Opel brand. The Indian portfolio comprised of the Opel Corsa, Astra and Vectra but none of them managed to catch the fancy of the Indian car buyer.




Opel Corsa spotted once again in Bengaluru

 

[TwinStar]

Do you think General Motors should consider reviving the infamous ‘Opel’ brand in India albeit in a totally new avatar?

GM would have serious positioning issues of this brand. Hiistorically, I think their branding strategy has been all over the place. After the Corsa launch in India and not so great performance, they resurrected Daewoo's small car (Chevrolet Spark). Then they brought in the Tavera (Isuzu) and Cativa brands. More recently, they have been toying with their SAIC collaboration products like the Sail hatch/sedan. Re-introducing the European Opel brand will mean some serious marketing heavy lifting, in terms of branding differentiation and also sales performance. The logistics involved in manufacturing, distributing and launching Opel's cars would cost them more money, effort and may not result in a strong market performance.

Recently I was browsing through Opel’s Global website (Opel International Vehicle Range) and found a few fresh models which might interest the Indian buyers if positioned and marketed well. What's Your take?

In case, GM went ahead with Opel in India, I think the Opel Mokka, compact SUV - The new Opel Mokka. - would be a good starting point

 

[Gurrala74]

Oh !! I still remember those days during 1998 what a car it was "opel astra" one white colored one was bought by then MD of the company where I was employed and it was really a stunning car and very rich styling with good GC I think

 

[Swiftian]

Opel Adam coming to India ?

Yesterday evening I spotted a Red Opel Adam test vehicle bearing MH temp registration number plate near outer ring road KR hanging bridge. Is Opel planning to launch this vehicle in India near future ? anyone has got more news about it, please share.

Sorry, I could not click the picture as I was moving in other side of the road.

 

[anshuman8]

Though opel has a good set of portfolio at their home market, I doubt it would be wise to relaunch it in India as people do not have much good memories with the brand, as they wound it up prematurely earlier.

 

[Prads]

^ maybe the car has been put through weather testing.

I definitely think Opel should launch the Astra(hatch) & Zafira in India.But they got to get there pricing right.I think the Zafira should do well.

Story behind my Opel:
I use to select the cars we bought since the time i was in kindergarten & i remember going in my School bus & this kid had a school project(a chart) wrapped in News paper with the Opel Astra ad on it.
That night my parents took me to a gathering at there friends place.They had just got a black Daewoo Cielo & the Son was showing off to all the guys & girls(mostly to the girls) on how the car is etc etc.
At that moment i said I am getting an Opel Astra to the guy(maybe i was annoyed) & the guy was a bit stunned & laughed & pointed saying "check it out he is getting Opel it seems" (or something like that).
On the drive back home after the party i told dad that i wanted Opel Astra & mom asked my dad to see how the car is ,so my dad checked it out & he decided to go for it cos i was crazy about the brand cos i would see it on most of the Football Jerseys on TV.
Also i remember seeing the Ford Escort but i wanted the Opel.

I guess around 3 to 5 months later we got a black Opel Astra & had our trips etc & a month or so after that had a party at that Cielo guys house.When he was standing near the car some time later I pointed to my car & said how about you laugh now.He exactly knew what i meant & was left blinking.
But i dont know that brand had such an impression on everybody back in 1997,people would assume car is imported & people would stop you to ask about the car.
And my dad actually bumped into a couple of his old class mates cos they were checking out the car & saw him.
Also people & traffic was much more polite in 1997,usually Opels were rare in the initial days & it was usual for another Opel Astra to flash its lights at you when coming from the other side.
Our Astra was one of the first customers Stanley Leather had,they eventually started offering there services through Opel (GM)Bangalore.Cost around 40,000 & i hated the smell of the leather .

Car would not do well with the petrol quality then so company would give some made in Germany Additives to add at full tank which were added when filling up at Rural petrol pumps.

That car has alot of memories for me.People in traffic would go nuts when they would see the antenna raise upwards (even Cielo had it) when the stereo was switched on,but then people would get impressed even & heads would turn when you had remote locking on your car Today you will need a Super car.


The Vectra was a tech first to the Indian Market though & still makes people look at it even today.But i feel Gm got it wrong after that,It was only when the Cruz launched they enjoyed success at there level. Zafira can do well in our current,but Gm has always struggled pricing there products right.I feel they should sacrifice little profits for better pricing & gain more numbers in sales.And they need a good reliable dealer network.Its the sales figures that makes & breaks a car.Like the Fabia which has stopped production.

 

[jarpickle]

It had really good ride quality, two of my friends had Opel cars.One was an older Astra and the other was a a Corsa hatchback.

The German arm of Chevrolet sure know how to make comfortable cars.Apart from Opel even the Holden brand from Australia has some great and wild cars.

From the looks of it Chevy sure has some great cars that it can build here.But apart from the Cruze none of them are exciting enough.Maybe it needs to be bring a new mid level sedan like the Astra.

 

[Pranav Pareek]

Big yes. This German brand should be relaunched in India. Opel left India when Indians started loving their cars. The quality and brand of Opel were too good. As India is big car market I dont understand why Opel is waiting for re-launch in India. Other German companies like Skoda, Volkswagen, Mercedes, BMW, etc. are doing very well. I still own a Opel Corsa from 2004 in spite of very hard and expensive availability of spare parts. I have also contacted Opel regarding the same but right now they dont have any plans to come back to India , but they cant ignore India for a longer period.

 

[AMG]

The chevrolet isnt doing good and I fear they may wind up and leave altogether rather than bringing up an all new brand.

 

[Releesh]

^^ +1. It is better to close their operations here than launching some cheap chinese/80's american designs with low quality.This will reduce indian consmers confusion and pain after buying some cheap products.

 

[cjdavid75]

i wish Chevy (India) invest in refining their previous products like Beat and Cruze instead of trying to bring down the name of Opel cars by starting their production in India..hope Chevy concentrates more on Cruze and Beat models and try to bring in two door beat/cruze. just a suggestion

 

[Releesh]

^^ that is the only 2 chevy models, people likes to buy in India. Better they stop all other models including Tavera (very old design) & Enjoy( chinese model), though they worth that price.

 

[Speed_freak]

Seriously you guys, I would love if the Opel brand is relaunched in India! A minor tweaks to the exterior and an all new turbocharged engine should do the trick! Let them do that and i can assure you it will it's rivals a run for it's money! And the reason Opel's maintenance is expensive is that they were not localized but imported! That is not to bring down the quality on spares! People couldn't understand and if they did couldn't digest it! We had an Opel Astra from 1997-2006! It was a great car but had to go because of spares! Later on i started to realize the value of that car! Apart from practicality, I would definitely buy that car! I will be the first customer of Opel if it's ever re-launched in India! Chevrolet can just go home! All their cars are pure crap except for the cruze! But that too needs to be updated because it's too old now!

 

[Prads]

^ Ya I agree the Opel Astra had expensive parts , I remember almost everything I read back then had Made in India or Made in China,
And one day while playing near my car I took a closer look at the brake lights on the Astra & it had "Made in Spain" written on it.

As for Chevy they need to upgrade their line up,I love the Captiva for the comfort it has,rides over any type of road without feeling it. A friend of mine prefers his Captiva over a huge list of cars he has,but its let down by service,avg service cost is 40k & his car engine was changed by company(after some fuss) at 1lakh kms cos they dint source some drive train part in time & the engine failed.

 

[Akash1886]

I have voted "YES" for a simple optimistic reason i.e with change in technology maybe the revival of OPEL in India could prove a blessing in disguise for General Motors as at present GM is in very bad shape due to After-sales and vehicle's reliability. So, by being optimistic, I feel Opel might be able to re-resurrect G.M here with infusion of new cars and better technology.

Regards

Akash