PSA’s strategy, since acquiring Opel from General Motors, of sharing as many elements as possible with its new subsidiary is starting to pay off. Opel made a $978 million profit at current exchange rates in 2018. That’s compared to a $204 million loss under the last time Opel reported financials under GM ownership.
This trend actually started before the acquisition. The Crossland X and Grandland
However new models such as the Corsa, share all that is not visible with the new Peugeot 208, and the restyled Astra now has a Peugeot 1.2 L engine under the hood. Suffice to say, the pace of change at Open is not slowing down.
The next step is Opel’s the large Insignia sedan which will undergo a restyle taking on the new front of the brand, unveiled in 2018, with the GT X Experimental Concept. Expect it to be a cousin of the Peugeot 508, and future Citroën C5 and DS 8.
The Insignia will be available in both sedan and station wagon bodywork, and also offer HYbrid plug-in technology.
At the end of 2020, a new Astra will be unveiled. Logically, it will be a technical copy of the Peugeot 308 and will be available in 2021 in both petrol and electric variations.
2020 will also see the second generation of the Mokka X. This SUV, midway between city-dwellers and compacts, and therefore both in competition with the Crossland X and Grandland X, will be solely electric.
Like all its rivals, Opel will complete its range of SUVs in the coming years. Alongside the two already existing and the future Mokka X, a mini-SUV, which will replace the Adam that recently disappeared from the line-up, will make an appearance in 2021, followed, a few months later, by a larger 7-seater model.
PSA is betting on sales of Opel carving out a larger market for a brand that has languished under GM, while not having an impact on sustained gains made within Peugeot, Citroën and DS. That is quite an aspiration in a shrinking automotive
Our recent holiday in the U.K, I had a Peugeot 508 wagon from Europe Car Rentals, it was gutless , didn’t have the oomph, didn’t like the speedo clusters which is between the top portion of the steering wheel, if to get it fully visible , I would have needed to shift the steering wheel two notches below, that had meant that the lower portion of the wheel had touched my upper thigh, didn’t like it.
It’s metal and or sound proofing was all too cheap, upon rain, the sound of the rain falling onto the roof, it had felt like it was just the metal and below it , absolutely no sound proofing.
No, not my kind of vehicle.
They look beautiful, but from my point of view , I didn’t like it, 1.2L engine size, manual gears, the gear ratio was too far apart, as if it would have been better to have had a close ratio gearing instead;)
I had soon got it exchanged for a non French fries, instead got a 3 cylinder Ford Fiesto /Fiesta with 6 speed manual transmission, what a treat it was, really sweet , ergonomically very well designed, the steering wheel well padded , the whole feel of the vehicle had worked out well.
IMHO , I will always get a Ford , this is my third Ford rented since having returned three French vehicles, the first was a C4 Cactus 3 cylinders with Turbo, returned that within two days out of the remaining thirty that it was booked for.
The second time was another Citroën , the latter DS , this was way too small, not my cup of tea, my wife also didn’t like it.