The Continental: Some Insight into GM from Opel’s CEO, VW Tidbits, and the Silvretta Rally: "
Each week, our German correspondent slices and dices the latest rumblings, news, and quick-hit driving impressions from the other side of the pond. His byline may say Jens Meiners, but we simply call him . . . the Continental.
Opel CEO Karl-Friedrich Stracke says his company will end up ahead of current planning for 2012. The company is aiming for a market share of 10 percent, up from 7.6 percent in 2010. That would be half of what Opel enjoyed in the early 1970s, when the company even surpassed VW on the German market, but still a remarkable achievement. Simultaneously, Stracke wants to grow European market share from 6.2 percent to 8.5 percent. “I am not patient,” he says. He confirms that Opel wants to push for exports—but without directly competing with Buick.
On the Opel-Buick relationship, Stracke tells me that Buick wields quite a bit of influence on the design. “But ultimately, we deliver and Buick accepts the product, and they are happy with that.” As the Opel and Buick model lineups converge, the distance between Opel and Chevrolet—which is still uncomfortably small with the nearly identical Ampera and Volt—will grow: “We aim for greater differentiation between the brands.” How? “Our new image is better than Chevy’s,” he says in forthright terms. “I don’t see overlap. They compete with the Koreans, we compete with Ford and VW.”
Stracke acknowledges the importance of the SUV market and says that Opel will get a small SUV and a bigger one—the latter is set to replace the Antara, which was offered as the Saturn Vue in the U.S. and was supposed to be rebadged as a Buick before Mark Reuss cancelled the project. Opel enjoyed great success in the SUV segment in Europe in the 1990s with the Frontera, a rebadged Isuzu Rodeo/Amigo, and has since lost its market position.
Do six-cylinder engines, such as the Insignia’s 2.8-liter turbo, have a future at Opel? Stracke won’t say yes or no, but he says that a turbocharged 2.0-liter four could produce up to 350 hp. In fact, a mule of GM’s 2.0-liter Ecotec engine with two-stage turbocharging approaches the performance of a naturally aspirated 5.3-liter V-8. It could be an option not just for performance sedans, but also for SUVs and trucks.
Opel is toying with the idea of an upmarket vehicle positioned above the Insignia. But it won’t be a luxury sedan like the Opel KAD series (Kapitän, Admiral, Diplomat) of the 1960s and ’70s. “It would have a flexible interior,” says Stracke, and it would likely be a crossover SUV model with six or seven seats. The powertrain? Probably a hybridized four. And despite its size, it won’t be developed by Holden.
Tidbits from the VW Beetle Launch
The U.S. market is the most important for the Beetle, and virtually every part comes from the U.S. or Mexico. In the future, transmissions will be built in the U.S. as well. On the road, the suspension is firm, the exhaust sound isn’t as great as VW claims, and the dual-clutch transmission is way too eager to upshift. You can read our first drive for full impressions and details.
VW wishes to change buyer demographics, which are now well over 50 percent female. In fact, this Beetle looks a lot sportier, almost Porsche-like, but I was surprised by a goofy detail: below the glass cover, the headlights are capped by eyelids. There’s a nod to the “flower vase” crowd.
Another Rally
Speaking of which, I was invited to co-drive the Silvretta Classic rally last weekend in a 1979 1303 Cabriolet, a perfect car from VW’s collection, with a sharper engine that had no trouble negotiating the mountain passes in Austria’s state of Vorarlberg. At the wheel was Wolfgang Juri of Vorarlberg’s economic chamber, so I had a perfect local guide. In terms of performance, the 1303 was a major step down from the Ferrari Dino 208 GT4 which I drove at the Kitzbühel rally a few weeks ago, but it was just as much fun in its own way. Moreover and unlike the Ferrari, it didn’t break down. Overall victory was taken by race driver Isolde Holderied in a 1982 Toyota Land Cruiser; the Silvretta electric-vehicle rally, which took part simultaneously, albeit over a far shorter distance (don’t you wonder why), was won by Audi’s Franciscus van Meel in an A1 e-tron with an electric motor and a rotary range-extender engine.
The most interesting part of the rally was meeting the designers. Ford’s Martin Smith and Mazda’s Peter Birtwhistle shared a cockpit; Kia chief designer Peter Schreyer drove with former Mini chief designer Gert Hildebrand; Austrian designer Achim Storz and Audi’s Stefan Sielaff were present as well. Germany’s attorney general, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, participated in an early-1970s Mercedes. It’s good to have politicians who enjoy cars.
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