General Motors has announced that it will be moving its Opel brand upscale. The move is intended to set the Opel brand apart from the competition and also further differentiate the marque from GM’s entry-level Chevrolet brand. Although the Opel brand is not sold in the U.S., several Saturn models sold here are based on Opels, leading us to wonder if GM will be making a similar move with Saturn.
“Opel and Chevrolet will be bookends with a clear position for both,” GM Europe President Carl-Peter Forster told Automotive News. “Over time, we will emphasize Opel’s German heritage, engineering and design.”
The shift to a premium marque will most heavily focus on improved designs and engineering, but will also include a 1 to 3 percent price hike to really get the point across.
The shift will begin with the 2009 Opel Insignia, which will eventually be brought to the U.S. as the Saturn Aura. Since so many Opel and Saturn models are linked, it seems like an upscale move for Saturn might be inevitable — which would really put the crunch on Buick .
Opel sales have been lagging in Europe — sales were down 8.2 percent through the first quarter of 2008 — but it remains unclear if that had any influence in the decision.
