History of Opel

In 1862, German entrepreneur Adam Opel founded an industrial company that took his name, which initially occupied a niche in the production of sewing machines. In addition, in 1870, the production of carriages and bicycles under the Opel brand was started. The first car of the brand known today was introduced in 1899, after the company received an order for its creation from Friedrich Lutsman, a major manufacturer of railway equipment. True, Adam did not find the revolutionary brainchild of his company, having died long before this momentous event. The business of Adam Opel was continued by his sons, from childhood, carried away by the first cars and internal combustion engines.

In 1902, the first production car of the Opel brand was introduced, equipped with a 10 horsepower power unit. Thanks to the successful start of sales, just a year later a more powerful version with an engine of 20 horsepower was introduced, called 20 / 24PS.

In 1905, Opel’s first luxury luxury car was introduced, which received a revolutionary 6.9-liter power unit. Thanks to a number of orders from the richest residents of Germany and Austria, Opel began to gain popularity among the upper strata of the population. A year later, the Berlin plant of the company opens, where the thousandth car of the brand will later be produced in early 1907.

However, the company’s management decides to expand its target audience, which resulted in the release of the budget Opel model in 1909. In just three years, the volume of sales of German brand cars has increased by 9.5 times, which allowed the company to enter the automotive markets of Italy and France.

Two years later, Opel became the largest automaker in Germany, leaving all its competitors far behind. However, the First World War stirs up the ambitious plans of the sons of Adam Opel, which leads to a gradual onset of a crisis within the company, which was overcome only after 9 years.

The American concern General Motors acted as the savior of the Opel brand, which bought out a controlling stake, appointing the descendants of the founder of the brand to positions in the structure of pre-sale preparation of cars, and GM engineers sent from the USA became responsible for creating new cars. However, the Opel family founds a small bank that sells cars of the brand on credit, which has a positive effect on the growth in sales of post-war Opel cars.

By 1936, thanks to the right strategy and large financial injections from General Motors, Opel becomes the largest automaker in Europe, which Adolf Hitler notes, freeing the company from paying taxes. However, the dictator’s sympathy leads to the fact that the company comes under the control of the German Ministry of Industry, and the production of cars completely stops in 1939. During World War II, Opel factories produced heavy trucks and light tanks.

In 1946, the occupying government of Germany returns control over the Opel company to the General Motors concern, which makes it possible to quickly restore the destroyed factories of the brand and start producing cars.

However, now the production of Opel models consists only in the creation of original bodies for the Vauxhall chassis (another brand under the control of General Motors) and GM, which, unexpectedly for both parties, has a positive effect on sales statistics. By 1972, this approach brought Opel to the first place in sales and production of cars in Germany, and the models of the German brand cover the automotive market throughout Western Europe.

Having successfully held out among the largest automakers in the country, by 1992 a gradual decline in the production of Opel cars begins, and the measures to save the situation taken by General Motors do not bring much fruit. Despite this, the company continues to build new plants in Poland and Hungary. In 2000, a large-scale restructuring of the brand’s production facilities in Germany begins, and the creation of new models under the Opel brand is limited to only minor modifications to existing Chevrolet cars.

In 2001, Opel released an updated version of the Corsa and Astra Cabrio. They continued the line of fine cars. However, the company did not stop only on modifications. Among the new products, the Opel Speedster, Astra Coupe OPC X-Treme and the serial Zafira OPC van stood out noticeably.

Wanting to increase the prestige of the company and attract new customers, Opel launches a large advertising campaign. Under her auspices, the new Opel Vectra was introduced.

A year later, Opel Speedster Turbo and Opel Astra 1.6 CNG station wagon appeared on the German market. The latest model stood out among others in that it did not run on gasoline, but on natural gas. A little later, the concern announces the release of two more cars: Opel Signum and Opel Meriva. Keeping in mind that in 2002 the designers introduced only one new model, no one expected great achievements from Opel, but the company managed to surprise everyone. At the International Motor Show in Frankfurt (IAA), Opel products are perhaps the most striking presentation.

In 2005, the Opel Zafira 1.6 CNG powered by compressed natural gas was declared the best-selling car in Germany. The Geneva Motor Show showed potential buyers the premieres of the Astra and Zafira OPC models. It is worth noting that almost immediately after the release, the Opel Zafira OPC minivan received several prestigious awards. The first of these was five stars from Euro NCAP, talking about the excellent safety of the car. This was followed by the receipt of the award “Golden Wheel” in the nomination of the best compact minivan.

In 2006, the new sports car Opel GT was presented at the Geneva Motor Show. He became a follower of the legendary GT of the 1960s.

However, such a decision gives only temporary results that plunge Opel into a protracted crisis in 2007. And in 2008, after the unexpected bankruptcy of General Motors, which was saved only by investments from the governments of the United States of America and Canada, the question arises of selling Opel with the British division of Vauxhall. A variety of concerns and companies are applying for the purchase of such a large automaker, including the joint application of Volkswagen and Sberbank of Russia. However, preliminary agreements have been made with the Canadian company Magna, which assembles all major brands of cars for sale in the United States. But after the change of leadership of the European branch of General Motors, Opel was withdrawn from sale, and the company’s engineers received a number of orders to create new cars under the name of the legendary brand.