The history of Opel dates back to the mid-1800s. For more than 150 years, it has served its customers throughout the entire world, except North America, UK, and Oceania. Adam Opel, a German businessman founded the company, Opel Automobile GmbH. Opel operated under the leadership of General Motors till 2017. In 2017, Groupe PSA, a French multinational company acquired Opel.
About Adam Opel
Born into a family in Russelsheim in 1837, Adam was the son of Wilhelm. Adam’s father was a locksmith and he studied to become the same until he turned twenty. He received a travel pass in 1857 which permitted him to work as a locksmith. But, something else caught his interest when he moved to Paris. He started learning the new technology of the sewing machine and asked his brother to do the same.
In 1862, Adam returned to his hometown with a business idea to make his sewing machines. His uncle helped him set the business and eventually, his younger brother gave him an extra hand. In 1867, Adam decided to build a factory for the production but unfortunately, his father passed away. In the meantime, Adam married Sophie and he set up the Opel plant with the dowry he received.
The production increased rapidly and by 1899 more than half a million machines were produced. In 1911, a devastating fire destroyed the major portion of the plant. This is when Adam decided to drop the sewing machine production and move to bicycles and automobiles. Adam, Sophia, and their five sons devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the new business. They made way more profit than from selling sewing machines.
At the end of 1887, Opel becomes the best company for innovative designs of cycles in Germany. Adam died in 1895 much before his industry started producing automobiles. Sophie and her sons took over the business but experienced a lot of ups and downs. They sold the company to General Motors Corporation in 1929.
Before the first acquisition
After Adam died, Sophie and her sons struggled very much to keep the company stable. They started making cars for the first time in 1898 with the help of Friedrich Lutzmann, a locksmith. He was in this industry for some time and the partnership led to the production of Opel’s first car in 1899. But, the designs of the car weren’t good enough to attract either investors or customers. So, Opel dissolved the partnership after a couple of years.
In 1901, the company came to a joint partnership with Automobiles Darracq France. The company started producing vehicles under the brand name Opel Darracq but the production ceased in 1907. After the fire, a new company was established. And, by 1920s Opel became German’s first company to pull out mass production in automobiles. In 1924, a new model, Laubfrosch was released and became a big hit. The company caught the sight of General Motors and by 1929 it acquired 80% of Opel which turned to 100% in 1931.
Post-acquisition and World War II
After the acquisition, a new plant was built in 1935 in Brandenburg. This year the company becomes the first German Company to produce 100,000 units in a single year. The first plant of Opel ranked seventh worldwide in terms of mass production. The automobile production came to a halt in 1940. And, within a couple of years, Opel was busy manufacturing aircraft parts and tanks.
During the post-war years, the second plant was transported to the Soviet Union. So, they built their first Opel Blitz Truck in the Russelsheim plant.
Present-day
Other than Opel, GM’s Vauxhall gave a very tough competition in the market as well. But, in the 1990s, it was Opel that brought major profit in the house. With this profit, GM started expanding its Asian market. But, the profits declined and the company almost sold out during the global financial crisis. To cut-off price and lay low, Opel closed its Belgium plant in 2010. In 2012, Opel announced a major partnership with PSA Peugeot Citroen where GM took 7% of the company’s share. This alliance was made to save around $2 billion in costs per year. But, the company was still running in loss, losing around $257 million in a year. In March 2017, PSA acquired Opel and Vauxhall for $2.2 billion. Next year, Opel made an income of €859 million. This was a big success for the company after a long time.
Annasha Dey is an NIT student, who apart from studying engineering is also a content writer. She has a great interest in photography, writing, reading novels, and travelling as well. She is a foodie who loves socializing and hanging out with her friends. She is also a trained Kathak dancer and a big fashion enthusiast. Dey also loves watching TV series, which includes F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and Big Bang Theory. To be a better writer she prefers to read more