The Curious Case of Opel Cars in India

All the old companies in India have a charm of their own. Many iconic brands, which never amused the Indians, wrapped up their shops and sailed away. One such renowned brand is from Germany, ‘Opel’. The funny part here is that the German company isn’t owned by a German person or a German company, and it is own by the American Giant, ‘General Motors'(GM). But wait, doesn’t GM own Chevrolet? General Motors is a company that owns a whole lot of brands, including Chevrolet and Opel.

Opel Insights | 

OPEL, the not so renowned brand came in 1996 with high hopes of sales but faced a disaster. The company came to our shores with a bunch of cars to offer. Those cars were top-notch with everything you couldn’t even have imagined especially the built quality and reliability compiled with safety. Safety? what is safety? This was the most common mindset of the people. But before further, I do, let us see what Opel had in their arsenal when they came to India.

The GM owned German carmaker entered with 5 cars.

1. Opel Corsa Sedan
   

   

   • I am sure, you may or may not know any other car from Opel, this surely cannot be forgotten. Opel Corsa was one of the most famous 5-seater sedans in the country at that time.
   • The car came with a powerful engine as well as a feature-packed interior.
   • Corsa sedan was offered with a 1.4-litre naturally aspirated engine producing about 87hp of power and 110Nm of peak torque. These numbers are more than sufficient for the time it was sold in the country.
   • The car had the fuel capacity of nearly 51 litres that could allow one to travel long distances without many refuels.
   • This Sedan could easily cross a 160km/h to achieve a top speed of little over 167km/h.
   • On the contrary, the car was pitched against the likes of Maruti Suzuki Esteem, Hyundai Accent, and Maruti Suzuki Baleno. All of these are were top contenders with one perfecting something or the other.

     

2. Opel Corsa Sail
   

   

   • There were many configurations one could opt when it came to Corsa. Well, conventional Corsa was a 4-door hatch with a seating capacity of 5.
   • This was the second offering from the German carmaker in the year 2003, Opel.
   • Like the Sedan, this hatch too came with the same 1.4-litre engine that produced 87hp and 110Nm of power and peak torque, respectively.

3. Opel Corsa Swing
   

   

   • There was a time when the station wagons were a thing in India. But now no one even asks of those. Well, this was another try from Opel with their station wagon version called Corsa Swing. Opel is not to blame this time as the Station Wagon theme didn’t work in India.
   • But keeping that aside, the carmaker had equipped the Swing with an upgraded engine which produced a whopping 93.7hp and about 203Nm of peak torque. Now, this is were the Swing shined its colours. But alas, that too went in vain.

4. Opel Astra
   

   

   • This is where the GM Owned Opel entered the Indian automotive market. In 1996 the company opened their shops with Astra in their inventory.
   • With fairly good aesthetics and amazing appeal, the car came with high-end features and a decent engine.
   • To be exact, the car came with a 1.6-litre naturally-aspirated petrol engine which produced 75.94hp and a peak torque output of about 121Nm. The engine was mated to just a manual transmission. Though there was an automatic too, but it is like finding a ring in the haystack.

5. Opel Vectra
   

   

   • It is sorrowful that Vectra didn’t make a good mark here in India. Only 500 units of the vehicle were sold and in 2005 the company pulled the plug with Vectra.
   • Why is it sorrowful? let me tell you, the car was from a different decade. It was way ahead of its time. What made the car ahead of its time? The features and engine. Just features, is that it? you may ask. Okay! so let us begin.
   • Talking about the exterior the car came with a large grille and huge headlights. The headlights were projector type and not reflector type.
   • At the rear, the Vectra had read parking sensors, and this was one of many features a person could dream of having in their car.
   • Talking about the boot, it was electronically actuated.
   • Moving to the inside, for starters, this Opel came with all 4- power windows, the rear headrests were adjustable and there was a centre armrest with some storage. This is what many cars still don’t offer.
   • Coming the to front seats both the driver and the co-driver were adjustable for height and other adjustments.
   • Talking about the features, the car came with automatic climate control, an integrated Philips 2-Din music system with a small digital display on top of the dash. That is not even the fun part, guess what the car came with rear AC vents and cruise control.
   • On the safety front, the car had ABS and EBD.
   • Opel Vectra came with a big 2.2-litre naturally-aspirated petrol engine capable of producing whopping 145hp and about 203Nm of peak torque. This was mated to an automatic transmission.

Verdict

Well, there has been a trend in India that if a car company comes with best in class built quality, good driving dynamics or price for that matter, they go for the cheaper alternative. They choose the car by asking the question,’Kitna Deti hai?’ Other brands like Maruti Suzuki or even Hyundai, for that matter, did precisely that and are still the top manufacturing cars in the Indian market. But the trends are now changing people have started favouring other good brands too and not considering the price.

Fun Read: Maruti 1000 (Maruti Suzuki Esteem) | Sedan of the yesteryear

Hence the brand Opel fell in Indian, and in the year 2006, they packed up their businesses and sailed away, not knowing whether they’d come back.

What do you think? Should Opel come back?