Opel, General Motors’ German subsidiary, might be on the market for outside investment, but that’s not stopping the automaker from considering creation of a brand of budget-friendly cars for emerging markets named after a now-defunct East German automaker, Wartburg.
According to Ward’s Auto World, Opel, which owns the former Wartburg plant in Eisenach, Germany, would build the cars to compete with Renault’s budget Dacia cars. Dacia, which was founded with help from Renault in Romania, once sold essentially rebadged Renaults but now acts as a subsidiary of the French company aimed at the growing, lower-income markets of South America and Eastern Europe.
Wartburg “is only one of several options for the Eisenach plant,†an Opel spokesperson said.
The automaker, which has a name that could see limited appeal in English-speaking countries, was one of East Germany’s two automakers, the other being Trabant. It briefly sold cars in the North America.
Opel isn’t the only automaker that has expressed interest in following in Renault and Dacia’s lead; Fiat is considering reviving the Topolino name and Peugeot has suggested that it will bring back the Talbot name it currently owns.
