History of Opel

There comes to our blog dedicated to the engine the history of one of the most fashionable marks, unfortunately, lately. The German Opel crosses one of his worst crises and his future is in the air. General Motors had announced his sale not long ago and nevertheless in the last weeks it seems to have changed idea. Briefly we tell you something of his glorious past.

• Opel; Germany. Head office in Rüsselheim.
• Founded in 1862 by Adam Opel.
• Emblematic models: Vectra, Ascona, Kadett, Calibrates, Senator, Rekord, Kapitän, Admiral ….
• Models in production: Corsican, Insignia, Astra, Zafira, Antara, Agila.

In his beginnings Adam Opel made bicycles, until in the year 1899 he decided to buy the factory of motorcars that belonged to Friedrich Lutzman. With him it worked for two years until both decided to continue different ways. In the year 1902 there appeared the first proper design of Opel, a vehicle of 12 PH, of which in 1906 more than 1.000 units had already been made.

In the middle of the 20s, Opel, injected an important money quantity into his business to introduce new chains of assembly and to increase the production. The measurement was very positive, Opel, it achieved this way that his products were reducing costs and were coming to the market with a much more competitive price, be enough to say, that the first model that went out of his chain of assembly, Free Fog, happened of costing 4.500 frames to 1.990. In 1928, Opel already had a market share in his fatherland of 37,5 %, which cost him to turn into the biggest builder of cars of Germany.

In full crisis of 29, Opel turned out to be forced to look for the help of more powerful signatures, there General Motors appears. The American giant buys the Opel totality but it leaves entire autonomy to him to keep on making motorcars as his philosophy. The following decade, it was that of the expansion of Opel, it turned into the biggest manufacturer of cars of Europe and thanks to General Motors one opened to the international market. Before such a growth in the production of motorcars, the German signature, it turned out to be forced to sell his bicycles division in 1937, up to this date he had constructed nearly 2,7 million units.

After the Second World war, Opel recovered quite rapidly and in 1950, his plant of Germany was already ready to make 100.000 cars a year. In 1957, Opel reaches 200.000 cars made a year and achieves 17 % of market share, to celebrate it makes a special edition of the model Kapitän. In 1962 and coinciding with his 100 anniversary opened another plant in Bochum.

At the beginning of the 70, Opel, he is the biggest manufacturer of cars of Germany again with 20 % of the entire production. In full crisis of the oil, it changes strategy and chooses to make cars of limited dimensions and of low consumption. In 1982 it opens the factory of Saragossa for the construction of the Corsican, one of his biggest successes of sales. Compromised with the environment, Opel introduced in his models, the catalyst, vital element for the reduction of pollutant emission to the ambience. His engines ECOTEC have been an example of reduction of consumptions and emission.

Images: Logo, Opel Record, the rest of vehicles.

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