Car maker Opel suffered severe setbacks at the end of last year – sales declined dramatically in December. The job cuts also continue.
Sales of the PSA subsidiary Opel fell surprisingly strongly in Europe at the end of last year. In a booming at the end of the year thanks to high discounts car market Opel and its British sister company, Vauxhall, hit 35 percent fewer vehicles than a year ago, according to the published registration statistics of the European manufacturers’ association ACEA for 2019. While the rest of the competition put a final spurt in December, thus boosting deliveries in the European Union for the year as a whole, the PSA group fell back somewhat due to the Opel weakness.
Reasons for the decline
The Rüsselsheimer justified the decline with the fact that numerous models that are still under the aegis of the former US parent company General Motors were withdrawn from the program. These include the small car Karl and Adam, the Cabrio Cascada and the previous Zafira, whose successor is now on a PSA platform. The Mokka X is also being converted to PSA technology. In addition, sales are influenced by the startup of the new Corsa.
According to Opel, the reason for the changes or the deletion of about a quarter of the annual sales of previous years is that these models could not be electrified. “The development of the sales figures in December was primarily characterized by the preparation for compliance with the CO2 targets that will apply from 2020,” said Opel. The concentration of the product portfolio brings the stricter climate requirements in the EU closer.
Experts also see PSA’s return targets behind this. The Adam in particular was considered unprofitable due to its complex construction. The French parent company has trimmed Opel for profitability since the takeover in 2017, thereby ensuring that the German subsidiary returns to profit in the red after two decades.
Thousands of jobs on the brink
However, numerous jobs will be lost due to the renovation. The Opel board recently agreed with the works council to initially cut up to 2,100 jobs. In the next few years, up to 2,000 more may be lost. In total, the PSA subsidiary plans to cut up to 4,100 jobs in addition to the roughly 7,000 jobs that were agreed two years ago. In return, Opel is extending the job guarantee for the remaining workforce in several steps until 2029. The entire industry is in transition due to the stricter CO2 requirements and is relying on the construction of electric cars, for which far less personnel is required than for internal combustion engines.
At Opel there is also the fact that the French parent company is currently involved Fiat Chrysler together closes. Experts expect the merged group to reduce excess capacity in Europe. This will also affect Opel, Ferdinand Dudenhöffer suspects, who heads the CAR Center at the University of Duisburg-Essen. “The bloodletting at Opel will continue.” PSA is rehabilitating the subsidiary primarily by cutting costs and reducing staff. Meanwhile, the market share is shrinking because the new models did not sell as well as hoped, says Dudenhöffer.
Opel disagreed: “The models that have been introduced in the past few years have seen growth in the double-digit percentage range.” These included the Opel Combo and the Grandland X and Crossland X all-terrain vehicles. Feedback from customers and dealers to date has also been positive for the new Corsa.
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