Opel sales collapse by 35 percent

Opel sales collapse by 35 percent

The car manufacturer Opel lost more than a third of its sales last year. The German subsidiary of the French PSA group together with the British sister brand Vauxhall still sold 632,687 cars worldwide, as the group reported. Compared to 2019, this was an above-average decrease of 35 percent compared to the market. All brands of the PSA Group recorded a drop in sales of 27.8 percent to 2.51 million cars, mainly caused by the Corona crisis. In addition to the consequences of the pandemic, Opel named the restructuring of its range as the main reason for the sales losses. In the course of 2020, five models were removed from the range that were still based on the technology of the former parent company General Motors and were not considered sustainable in terms of air conditioning. More than 150,000 units of these models had been sold in 2019, explained a spokesman. In addition, the focus is more on profitable sales channels. According to its own statements, the PSA Group has further reduced the average CO2 emissions of the vehicles sold and, as announced, has met the European target values. This has been achieved by optimizing the combustion engine and by boosting sales of electrified models. Opel / Vauxhall suffered the greatest sales losses in its core market of Europe with a decline of 38.3 percent. In the Middle East and Africa sales region, however, sales rose sharply - by 48.9 percent. Here, Opel benefits from newly developed markets and synergies with its sister companies Peugeot and Citroen. PSA is about to merge with the US-Italian group Fiat Chrysler (FCA). The new automotive group Stellantis is born this Saturday. It is the third largest in terms of sales after Toyota and Volkswagen and employs 400,000 people worldwide.