Remember Opel? You could be forgiven if the answer was no. Turns out the German automaker has pulled out of Australia after just a year in the local market.
Opel announced over the weekend that it would bail on Australia effective immediately, citing poor sales performance as the reason for the departure.
According to CarsGuide, Opel said it would have had to “significantly reposition the price of its core volume models” to sustain business operations in Australia. Translation? Cut prices to the point of being unsustainable or pull the plug on Australia. The company opted with the latter version.
Opel is a German subsidiary of General Motors, which you may recognise better in Australia as Holden. Opel was designed to be a niche player meant to compliment Holden auto-sales in the country, but now the two will assess the future of such brands.