Emotional, Efficient, Electric: 2022 Will Be Year of The Opel Astra

• Spring: New Opel Astra five-door rolls out to customers
• Summer: Dealer-premiere for new Opel Astra Sports Tourer
• Anniversary year: Opel will be 160, the Kadett 60; Corsa to celebrate its 40th birthday

Rüsselsheim.  Opel impressed customers and experts this year with the new Mokka and Mokka-e, the world premiere of the new Astra, the unique Manta GSe ElektroMOD and many other models. This is underlined by the numerous awards for Opel (such as the “Golden Steering Wheel 2021”¹ for the Mokka-e) and the “Best of Opel 2021” social media video. In 2022, the tradition-rich German carmaker will continue on its journey towards becoming an efficient, electric, emotional brand. Important Opel vehicles – above all the new Astra generation – will hit the road in the coming months.

2022 is special for Opel for another reason too. The year will mark the 160^th anniversary of Adam Opel laying the foundations for a company that evolved from a sewing machine factory and the world's largest bicycle manufacturer to an internationally respected automotive brand. After 160 years Opel is now transforming itself again, from an automobile manufacturer to an electric mobility service provider. By 2028 Opel will offer only electric vehicles in Europe.

“We are already realising the automotive future today – bold and pure in design, emotional and electrifying in every way,” said Opel CEO, Uwe Hochgeschurtz. “Our compact-class best-sellers, the Astra and Astra Sports Tourer, take to the roads in 2022, along with the new Grandland. In addition, we recently completed our line-up of CO₂-free, sustainable propulsion systems with the Vivaro-e HYDROGEN, a fuel cell light commercial vehicle that meets every demand. These models are important milestones with which we will extend our success in 2022.”

New Opel Astra, Grandland and Rocks-e

Right at the start of the year, Opel will be back in full swing at the Eisenach plant. Production of the new Grandland (including the electric plug-in hybrid variants) will start there in January and the SUV flagship will soon be rolling to the first customers. The new Rocks-e has already arrived. Opel’s first SUM (Sustainable Urban Mobility) can be driven in Germany by 15-year-olds who hold an AM driving licence².

While Opel’s smallest, the Rocks-e, is drawing attention in city traffic, the largest Opel, the new Movano, will also enter active service – also as the all-electric Movano-e. This means that customers can now choose a battery-electric version of every Opel light commercial vehicle. In addition, since the end of this year, the new Opel Vivaro-e HYDROGEN fuel cell electric van is also in the transportation business, with a driving range of more than 400 kilometres in the WLTP cycle³ and hydrogen-refuelling in just three minutes.

Opel therefore continues to drive forward the electrification of the brand and its models – from light vehicles (aka quadricycles) to light commercial vehicles. The focus of attention in the coming months will be the all-new generation of the Opel Astra. After its premiere in September 2021, the new five-door Astrawill be available to customers as early as next spring, also as a powerful and efficient plug-in hybrid. The all-electric Astra-e will complete the offer in 2023. The new Astra Sports Tourer will celebrate its official world premiere soon. The estate version of the best-seller will also be available with both conventional and electric plug-in hybrid drive next summer. By mid-2022, 11 Opel models will be electrified, including the entire LCV portfolio.

Opel Anniversary-Year 2022

Opel has a long tradition of developing its brand and models to meet the challenges of the future. In the 160^th year of the company's history, this is demonstrated in particular by the successful Astra and Corsa. The latter first saw the light of day 40 years ago, in autumn 1982. Since then, the best-selling small car has repeatedly underlined how Opel makes top technologies efficient, tangible and affordable for customers in every vehicle class, with top registration statistics and with numerous awards.

It is not without reason that the Astra and its predecessor, the Kadett, are widely perceived as constant benchmarks in the compact class. Sixty years ago, the Opel Kadett A was launched, a car that was to play a decisive role in shaping its market sector for decades to come. Both model series – Kadett/Astra and Corsa – still combine tradition with innovation in each new generation and are now making future mobility a reality with electrified drivetrains.

Opel is well on the way to a CO₂-free future, and not just with its models and propulsion systems. The brand is also demonstrating this progress at several sites. For example, Opel and Stellantis are pushing ahead with plans to build the battery cell “giga-factory” in Kaiserslautern next year. Meanwhile in Rüsselsheim, the plan to transform the Opel headquarters into a green campus as the future German headquarters of Stellantis is taking firm shape.

“2022 will truly be an electrifying year for Opel and all the brand's customers, friends and fans”, said the head of Opel Germany, Andreas Marx. “Together with you, we at Opel want to take the successes and momentum of the past year and extend them further. You can look forward to many exciting, emotional and pioneering Opel highlights in the coming months. Until then, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!”

^[1] AUTO BILD edition 45/2021 and BILD am SONNTAG edition 46/2021, category for “Best car under €25,000” incl. environmental bonus.

^[2] Applies to four-wheeled light motor vehicles with a rated continuous/utilised power not exceeding 6 kW, with no more than two seats and a maximum speed not exceeding 45 km/h.

^[3] Provisional range determined according to WLTP test procedure methodology (R (EC) No. 715/2007, R (EU) No. 2017/1151). The actual range can vary under everyday conditions and depends on various factors, in particular on personal driving style, route characteristics, outside temperature, use of heating and air conditioning and thermal preconditioning.

Contact:

Colin Yong                    
+49 (0) 6142-6922084                        
colin.yong@opel-vauxhall.com

Jan-Philipp Kreß            
+49 (0) 6142-6921576             
jan-philipp.kress@opel-vauxhall.com