Opel presents the PACE! plan, the start of the full integration into the PSA Group

When the acquisition of Opel by the PSA Group was announced, it seemed strange, since it was a brand that acted as a drag on a giant like GM, in financial terms. But not so in terms of popularity in Europe, where it enjoys wide recognition, so in this respect it made more sense for it to be in the hands of a European giant such as the PSA Group.

But despite this popularity, it is well known that Opel does not enjoy financial stability, so now that it has settled within the PSA Group, they have decided to begin restructuring the brand in every sense. To this end, Michael Lohscheller, CEO of Opel, has presented the route they will follow through a plan they have called PACE!, which will affect financing, competitiveness and achieving sustainable growth.

In terms of benefits, which after all is what matters for a company to be viable, the synergies between Opel and the PSA Group will be very important, with the aim of achieving sales of 800,000 units per year, the figure they are working towards to make Opel profitable. It should be noted that these synergies with the PSA Group will generate up to €1.1 billion in 2020, an amount that will rise to €1.7 billion by 2026.

Also, as is usually the case in these situations, cost reduction will play a major role in this plan. For example, not long from now, specifically in 2020, Opel should improve its competitiveness by reducing costs per vehicle by €700; while the overall efficiency of the brand will be improved by reducing the complexity of all functions. These changes will also directly affect the manufacturing plants, as the CMP and EMP2 platforms of the PSA Group will be used, the latter to create a new SUV in 2019 and a vehicle aimed at the D segment. In this way Opel will go from 9 platforms in its passenger cars to 2 by 2024, while the drivetrain families will go from the current 10 to 4.

As for new models, Opel will carry out a continuous process in which it aims to launch a major new model every year. Once Opel absorbs the PSA Group’s architectures, the new Opel Combo is expected to be launched next year, 2018, followed by the next generation of the Opel Corsa in 2019. Even so, the pace until 2020 will be frenetic at Opel, with the launch of up to 9 new models. But this does not end here, as this whole restructuring will not leave new technologies aside, reaching 2020 with four electric models, two of which will be the Opel Grandland X plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and the next generation of the Corsa in electric version. Once we reach 2024, the entire Opel range will be fully electric or hybrid.

As you can see, we can expect important news within the PSA Group and Opel, with a frenetic pace that will bring a truly exciting revolution within the brand with the lightning bolt, something we hope will logically be for the better.