Opel, originally and more correctly known as Adam Opel AG is an automobile maker in Germany, since 1929 part of General Motors. As Opel started to build cars, it also made household goods. It opened for business on January 21, 1899.Many cars sold by General Motors worldwide are Opel designs, including such models as the Corsa, Astra, Vectra and Omega. Opel models are also sold under other GM brand names, such as Vauxhall in the UK, Holden in Australasia, and Chevrolet in Latin AmericaLatin America consists of the countries of South America and North America (including Central America and the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken there. Most freque. Its Zafira people carrier is even sold in JapanJapan (, Nippon/Nihon literally "the origin of the sun") is a country in East Asia situated on a chain of islands east of the Asian continent on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. The largest of these islands are, from north to south, Hokkaido , Honsh badged as a SubaruSubaru (In katakana: ), a Japanese car company, is a subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries. General Motors is a 20% minority shareholder. Subaru" is the Japanese word for the star cluster Pleiades that is depicted in the company logo. In New Zealand, it is, while the Omega was briefly sold in the USThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in as the Cadillac CateraThe Cadillac Catera was a mid-sized automobile that was, essentially, a rebadged version of the 1994 model year Opel Omega MV6 made in Russelheim, Germany. It was marketed in North America as an entry-level Cadillac, but with softened suspension settings. The first cars produced by DaewooDaewoo Daewoo logo Korean Name Revised RomanizationDaeu McCune-ReischauerTaeu Hangul Hanja Daewoo (meaning "Great Universe") is a major South Korean chaebol (conglomerate). It was founded in March 22, 1967 as Daewoo Industrial''. Daewoo Motors arrived in in South Korea were based on the Opel Kadett (now Astra) and larger Rekord (now Omega). Opels appeared under their own name in the U.S. in the late Sixties, when they were sold through BuickBuick is a brand of automobile built in the United States and China by General Motors. Buicks are also sold in Canada and Israel. History Buick originated as an independent motor car manufacturer, the Buick Motor Company incorporated on May 19, 1903 by Da dealers as captive importCaptive import is an automobile marketing term denoting a foreign-built vehicle which is sold and serviced by a domestic manufacturer through its own dealer body. The foreign car may be produced by a subsidiary of the same company, by a joint venture withs.
An Opel Factory in Bochum
Opel is the main GM brand name in Europe except in the UK, where GM's other European subsidiary, Vauxhall Motors, still uses its own brand name. Vauxhall's models were completely different designs from those of Opel, until the 1970s. The Opel name largely disappeared from the UK in 1981 after Vauxhall and Opel dealerships were merged, with only the Manta being sold as an Opel, until it was discontinued in 1988. Vauxhall began adopting Opel's names for its models, with the exception of 'Kadett' which was replaced by Astra, already used by Vauxhall in 1991. However, even in other right hand drive markets in Europe like the Republic of Ireland the main GM brand name is now Opel, although many Vauxhalls, imported second hand from the UK, are still seen on Irish roads. For many years, Opel Ireland sponsored the country's soccer team, using the slogan 'Ireland's Number One Supporter'.
Some have suggested that the Vauxhall name should be dropped in the UK in favour of Opel, thereby harmonising GM's marketing strategy across Europe. However, Vauxhall has rejected this, on the grounds that its brand is well known, and fleet buyers, who are its main customer base, insisted that Opel models be rebadged as Vauxhalls.
The company headquarters are located in Rüsselsheim , and it has plants in Bochum and Eisenach as well as in Belgium, Spain and Poland. Opel cars are also made in the Vauxhall plant in the United Kingdom.
In October 2004 employees went on strike for six days due to the threat of 12,000 job losses. The threat was due to the unprofitable European markets because of low customer demand. The strike had a major impact on production. Employee negotiations are still underway to come to an acceptable deal.
