GM Pulls Opel Out of Australia After Just One Year

General MotorsGMUnited States of America, 1998 > present8 models
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has announced that it is pulling OpelOpelGermany, 1863 > present85 models
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8 videos
out of the Australian market effective immediately despite it being on sale there for barely a year. Opel sold 541 cars in Australia in 2012 and sold 989 cars there in the first six months. It launched in Australia in September 2012. 

Opel had 20 dealers and 15 executive staff in Australia. Because the cars were imported and the dealers were mostly combined with HoldenHoldenAustralia, 1856 > present29 models
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, the only workers in danger of losing their jobs are the executives. 

Opel sold the CorsaOpel Corsa Gen.4 [D]Germany, 2006 > present222 versions
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as a three-door and five-door; AstraOpel Astra Gen.4 [J/D]Germany, 2010 > 2015194 versions
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five-door, Sports Tourer, GTC; and InsigniaOpel InsigniaGermany, 2003 > present409 versions
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as a sedan and Sports Tourer. It has planned to add the MokkaOpel Mokka Gen.1Germany, 2012 > present55 versions
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soon. 

The problem facing Opel was that is was positioned as a premium brand in a very crowded market. With such low sales, it could not make a profit.

"We can't sell our cars at the price they need to be in order to meet our volume targets.

"The Astra small car was supposed to underpin our brand but with the prices of most rivals dipping to close to $20,000 we just couldn't compete," said Opel spokeswoman Michelle Lang.

Opel had hoped to grow sales to 15,000 cars a year within three years. 

Source: News Australia