Opel shutting down in Australia effective immediately

[BroadyFord]

LOL! That didn't last long!

Just now via Dowling on Twitter:

BREAKING: General Motors' European brand Opel shutting down in Australia immediately, one year after arrival. Dealers and staff told today.

[Brazen]

One less piranha in the tank.

Good cars though, but a very competitive market and they had very lacklustre marketing.

[KIWI-1]

FBT (not).

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by KIWI-1

FBT (not).

It would not have helped. Crappy marketing, no SUV at all (crazy) and a falling Australian dollar probably all conspired against them.

[Wretched]

:( that's disappointing.

[KIWI-1]

Originally Posted by KIWI-1

FBT (not).

Originally Posted by Brazen

It would not have helped. Crappy marketing, no SUV at all (crazy) and a falling Australian dollar probably all conspired against them.

Someone will blame it on the FBT for sure.
Bloody good cars but one of those 'wonder why' scenarios? Australia is a market with hundreds of choices and less than 1% of world car purchases.

[Franco Cozzo]

They advertised heaps, I saw a lot of their ads.

Maybe too late? Look at the Australian dollar.

[karj]

Originally Posted by Brazen

It would not have helped. Crappy marketing, no SUV at all (crazy) and a falling Australian dollar probably all conspired against them.

Changes to FBT, announced 2 weeks ago, would not have had any impact on this decision. It takes more than a couple of weeks weeks to plan and announce an exit strategy.

[revcore]

It was doomed from the start. Their Australian marketing team were worse than useless then throw in to the mix the ailing automotive industry here in Australia and you have to ask what on earth were they thinking?

[BroadyFord]

Seems strange. They're in the middle of building a new dealership in Armadale (Melb). Be interesting to see what happens with that.

I reckon this is more of a positive than a negative; one less brand for local producers to compete with.

[Wretched]

more info

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-new...802-2r4ch.html

[DJM83]

What a shame. I came close to an OPC Astra too.

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by karj

Changes to FBT, announced 2 weeks ago, would not have had any impact on this decision. It takes more than a couple of weeks weeks to plan and announce an exit strategy.

Sometimes decisions can be made very quickly (not saying FBT was the reason though).

[neptune blue]

Originally Posted by KIWI-1

Someone will blame it on the FBT for sure.
Bloody good cars but one of those 'wonder why' scenarios? Australia is a market with hundreds of choices and less than 1% of world car purchases.

Well spoken
Less than 1%
I wonder how they managed to get there business case up in the first place
Why would you bother

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by neptune blue

Why would you bother

They also came in at the most competitive points at the market (light, small and mid), where the competition is fierce.

If you are going to start up in Australia start in a segment where you can make a buck, like dual cab utes. Where people pay up to 50 grand for those Thai-made things.

[superfly]

Wow, didn't see that coming. I did see plenty of ads on TV though.

[Iggle Piggle]

Originally Posted by revcore

It was doomed from the start. Their Australian marketing team were worse than useless then throw in to the mix the ailing automotive industry here in Australia and you have to ask what on earth were they thinking?

They sponsored the Melbourne Footy Club

[XRtowcar]

Has taken years for Renault to re-establish itself and Opel want to do it in twelve months.

[Struggo]

What a waste of money

[karj]

I just read the news article posted by Wretched a couple of posts ago.

Opel only managed to sell 1530 vehicles in the year they've been here.

My crude calculations indicate that is roughly 127 a month nationally, or 4 per week per mainland state/territory (including Tas).

[stace650]

Even though I quite like the look of the Opels, I did think they would struggle against the Hyundai i series.

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by karj

I just read the news article posted by Wretched a couple of posts ago.

Opel only managed to sell 1530 vehicles in the year they've been here.

My crude calculations indicate that is roughly 127 a month nationally, or 4 per week per mainland state/territory.

So far this year to June, Porsche has outsold them by 10%.

At least they gave it a shot I suppose, apparantly Opel are now negotiating with Holden to rebadge Opels as premium Holdens.

The Zafira people mover might be a nice little niche or maybe one of their big Euro-sized commercial vans.

[KIWI-1]

"Opel Australia's head of marketing and public relations, Michelle Lang, says the cut-throat competition in the small car market was the chief reason the brand decided to shut its doors.
"Astra is our volume driver, everything is just so competitively priced in that end of the market," Lang says. "We just can't match that without cutting into our profits."

Geez, that's a revelation.

[Auslandau]

Originally Posted by KIWI-1

"Opel Australia's head of marketing and public relations, Michelle Lang, says the cut-throat competition in the small car market was the chief reason the brand decided to shut its doors.
"Astra is our volume driver, everything is just so competitively priced in that end of the market," Lang says. "We just can't match that without cutting into our profits."

Geez, that's a revelation.

And they didn't know this when they did their business plan 12 months ago???? They only had to log into AFF and ask! Not rocket science!

[DanielXR8]

Originally Posted by Brazen

One less piranha in the tank.

Good cars though, but a very competitive market and they had very lacklustre marketing.

Aren't Opel owners going to be thrilled when they have to pull up at a Holden dealer for warranty and service.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by DanielXR8

Aren't Opel owners going to be thrilled when they have to pull up at a Holden dealer for warranty and service.

Let alone the trade in values......

[MITCHAY]

I think I've only seen one new driving around and that was the Insignia so I can't say I'm surprised. Seen more ads then actual cars!

[Spammy]

Originally Posted by BroadyFord

I reckon this is more of a positive than a negative; one less brand for local producers to compete with.

You serious - they sold 2/5 of nothing ...Toyota prob lose more cars off the back of semi trailers each week than these guys sell.

[Joe5619]

The fact they even come here was stupid on GM's part.

[olds]

All importers are going to be in trouble AUD 90 - 80 -70 cents US in the future a change in Gov. might even see it back to 55.