A look at the current Buick range reveals that the U.S. brand sells three rebadged Opel/Vauxhall models. We’re talking about the Regal (Opel Insignia), Verano (Opel Astra Sedan) and Encore (Opel Mokka). This trend will continue, GM CEO Dan Akerson has revealed, as the largest U.S. carmaker wants the Buick and Opel brands to integrate even more in the future in order to save development costs.
“What we’re trying to do is bring together the product development teams much more closely so that there will be all sorts of synergies, I believe, between Opel-Vauxhall and Buick,” Akerson said during an investor conference last week.
Opel products were introduced in the Buick lineup following the 2009 shutdown of the Saturn brand, which was mainly selling rebadged Opels in its last years. As Buick was in need of new models following GM’s bankruptcy, GM decided to supply it with Opel products for the U.S. and China markets.
The first Opel-based Buick was the 2011 Regal, with the Verano and Encore following soon after. Akerson calls the Opel-Vauxhall-Buick trio a “hybrid global brand” which includes three brands that are sold in the world’s largest markets on the same platforms. The executive says the advantage of this strategy is that it helps to leverage the cost of GM’s European engineering resources while providing “architecturally more scale.”
“We think we can take costs out that way. You’ve got to change the rules of the game in Europe – we do – because of where we are today,” Akerson said.
GM’s losses in Europe amounted to $1.8 billion last year and around $18 billion since 1999. The company hopes to break even in Europe by mid-decade.
By Dan Mihalascu
Story References: Autonews
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