The Opel Manta electric could finally be forgotten

The reinterpretation, as a current electric vehicle, of the legendary Opel Manta from the 1970s that the German manufacturer presented in May 2021 will probably not go into series production in 2025, as had been planned. Stellantis does not appear to be convinced of the viability of this project and, for that reason, intends to scrap it. The same would also apply to the successor to the Insignia.

That is, at least, what is claimed in a recent report referred to by French media, although the source of this information is unknown. Stellantis would thus plan for Opel to focus on the more traditional current models of its brand, boosting their electrification and the commercialisation of new electric versions of them.

In the summer of 2021, when the Chief Executive of Opel was Michael Lohscheller, the company announced the possibility of putting the electric Manta on the market, as it was considered a very “emotional” model with a great capacity to attract new customers to the brand. At that time it was even said that this could happen around the middle of this decade, given the extraordinary acceptance that the GSe ElektroMOD prototype had received when it was presented in May of that same year.

However, since then nothing further has been heard about this matter and now, almost three years later, we have learned that the electric Manta could finally be forgotten.

Stellantis also has other plans for the Insignia

On the other hand, and with regard to the new Insignia, the German manufacturer stated in March 2022 that the new generation of this model would only be available in fully electric versions. Shortly afterwards, the company also announced its decision to halt production at the Rüsselsheim plant, thus anticipating the arrival of that new generation. Opel argued on that occasion that the platform used by that model did not allow its electrification and the new Insignia had to be developed from scratch.

Since the disappearance of the Insignia, the manufacturer’s range has lacked a mid-size saloon, and this is not something that seems likely to change in the near future.