BERLIN (Reuters) – Franco-Italian carmaker Stellantis is upbeat about the outlook of its German subsidiary Opel which it believes will be able to keep operating as a separate brand, the company’s Europe chief Uwe Hochgeschurtz told magazine Automobilwoche.
“I’m happy with the brand and with its array of products,” Hochgeschurtz was quoted as saying in the interview published on Sunday. “There is great capacity for development.”
The design centre in Ruesselsheim was one of the most modern in the entire company, he said, while the German factories had a steady workload meaning their future was safe.
Hochgeschurtz blamed Opel’s loss of market share largely due to inadequate transport capacity to deliver the cars to sellers.
“We had the clients, we had the finished cars, but they did not get to where they needed to get,” he said.
“Given the lack of truck drivers, there is only limited transport capacity. That’s why we have offered sales people to come and pick up the cars themselves in our depots.”
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Hochgeschurtz named Latin America, Turkey and North Africa as good export markets for Opel.
“But the core of the market is Europe,” he said.
(Reporting by Klaus Lauer, Writing by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)