Opel again second largest GM brand Manufacturer continues as third-strongest passenger car brand in Europe European market share improved for the first time in many years General Motors today published its global sales figures for 2013 and Opel is among the winners. The Rüsselsheim based manufacturer continues to be the second largest brand of General Motors and strengthened its position as the third-strongest passenger car brand in Europe according to preliminary figures. In a difficult market environment Opel sold 1.064 million vehicles (+ 0%). Opel and its sister brand Vauxhall in the United Kingdom achieved a market share of 5.61 percent in the European total vehicle market compared to 5.59 percent the year before. This is the first year-on-year growth in market share for the brand in 14 years. “Our new models ADAM, Cascada and Mokka in particular contributed to this improvement, in spite of an overall difficult market environment. We have already received 62,000 orders for the ADAM and 177,000 for the Mokka”, said Peter Christian Küspert, Member of the Management Board, Sales and Aftersales. The result is broad-based. Opel/Vauxhall was able to increase its market share in eleven countries year-on-year, among them core markets like Germany, the UK and Spain, as well as the growth markets Turkey and Russia. In the German passenger car market, Opel increased its market share according to theKraftfahrtbundesamt (Federal Office for Motor Vehicles) to 7.0 percent, compared to 6.9 percent one year ago. The top sellers Astra and Corsa again were among the ten best-selling models across Europe in 2013, reaching positions seven and eight. The Mokka small SUV entered the market strongly and conquered the second place in its segment for the full year, while the new Insignia was the number two in its segment, not including premium competitors. In the UK, Opel/Vauxhall’s single largest market, the Insignia and Zafira finished number one and Corsa, Astra and Mokka number two in their respective segments. In Opel’s home market Germany, the Meriva stood out as the bestseller in its segment. The Corsa and Astra beat their direct competitors to second place in their respective segments. Opel continued to be successful in Hungary where the brand led the passenger car market for the third year in a row. Opel reached the number three position in Austria and Greece and registered the highest market share of the last six years in Spain, reaching 6.98 percent in the total vehicle market.
The post Opel in 2013 again sold more than one million cars appeared first on Automotive World.