1862–1898 The company was founded in
Rüsselsheim,
Hesse, Germany, on 21 January 1862, by
Adam Opel. In the beginning, Opel produced
sewing machines. Opel launched a new product in 1886: he began to sell high-wheel
bicycles, also known as
penny-farthings. Opel's two sons participated in high-wheel bicycle races, thus promoting this means of transportation. In 1888, production was relocated from a cowshed to a more spacious building in Rüsselsheim. The production of high-wheel bicycles soon exceeded the production of sewing machines. At the time of Opel's death in 1895, he was the leader in both markets.
1898–1920 The first cars were designed in 1898 after Opel's widow
Sophie and their two eldest sons entered into a partnership with Friedrich Lutzmann, a locksmith at the court in
Dessau in
Saxony-Anhalt, who had been working on automobile designs for some time. The first Opel production Patent Motor Car was built in Rüsselsheim early 1899, although these cars were not very successful (A total of 65 motor cars were delivered: eleven in 1899, twenty-four in 1900 and thirty in 1901) and the partnership was dissolved after two years, following which Opel signed a licensing agreement in 1901 with the French
Automobiles Darracq France to manufacture vehicles under the brand name
Opel Darracq. These cars consisted of Opel bodies mounted on Darracq chassis, powered by two-cylinder engines. The company first showed cars of its design at the 1902
Hamburg Motor Show. Production began in 1906, with the licensed Opel Darracq version discontinued in 1907. In 1909, the
Opel 4/8 PS model, known as the
Doktorwagen () was produced. Its reliability and robustness were appreciated by physicians, who drove long distances to see their patients back when hard-surfaced roads were still rare. The
Doktorwagen sold for only 3,950 marks, about half as much as the luxury models of its day. The company's factory was destroyed by fire in 1911, and a new facility was built with more up-to-date machinery. Opel's cars were initially tested on public roads, leading to complaints about noise and road damage. Under public pressure, Opel began construction of a test oval in 1917. The track was completed in 1919, but not open to the public until 24 October 1920 under the official name of
Opel-Rennbahn (Opel Race Track).
1920–1939 convertible (1937–1939) (1938–1940) In the early 1920s, Opel became the first German car manufacturer to build automobiles with a mass-production assembly line. In 1924, they used their assembly line to produce a new open two-seater called the
Laubfrosch (Tree frog). The Laubfrosch was finished exclusively in green lacquer. The car sold for an expensive 3,900 marks (expensive considering the less expensive manufacturing process), but by the 1930s, this type of vehicle would cost a mere 1,930 marks – due in part to the assembly line, but also due to the skyrocketing demand for cars. Adam Opel led the way for motorised transportation to become not just a means for the rich, but also a reliable way for people of all classes to travel. Opel had a 37.5% market share in Germany and was the country's largest automobile exporter in 1928. The "Regent" – Opel's first eight-cylinder car – was offered. The RAK 1 and RAK 2 rocket-propelled cars made sensational record-breaking runs. Opel as a company and its co-owner
Fritz von Opel, grandson of Adam Opel, were instrumental in popularizing rocket propulsion for vehicles and have an important place in the history of spaceflight and rocket technology. In the 1920s, Fritz von Opel initiated together with
Max Valier, co-founder of the "Verein für Raumschiffahrt", the world's first rocket program,
Opel-RAK, leading to speed records for automobiles, rail vehicles and the first manned rocket-powered flight in September 1929. Months earlier in 1928, one of his rocket-powered prototypes, the Opel RAK2, piloted by von Opel himself at the AVUS speedway in Berlin, reached a record speed of in front of 3,000 spectators and world media representatives, including
Fritz Lang, director of
Metropolis and
Woman in the Moon, world boxing champion
Max Schmeling, and many other sports and show business celebrities. A world speed record for rail vehicles was reached with RAK3 at a top speed of . After these successes, von Opel piloted the world's first public rocket-powered flight using
Opel RAK.1, a rocket plane designed by
Julius Hatry. World media reported these events, including Universal Newsreel in the US, causing "Raketen-Rummel" or "Rocket Rumble" immense global public excitement, particularly in Germany, where, among others,
Wernher von Braun was highly influenced. Opel RAK became enthralled with liquid propulsion, building and testing them in the late 1920s in Rüsselsheim. According to
Max Valier's account, Opel RAK rocket designer,
Friedrich Wilhelm Sander launched two liquid-fuel rockets at Opel Rennbahn in
Rüsselsheim on 10 and 12 April 1929. These Opel RAK rockets were the first European, and after Goddard, the world's second, liquid-fuel rockets in history. In his book
Raketenfahrt Valier describes the size of the rockets as of in diameter and with a length of , weighing empty and with fuel. The maximum thrust was 45 to 50 kp, with a total burning time of 132 seconds. These properties indicate a gas pressure pumping. The first missile rose so quickly that Sander lost sight of it. Two days later, a second unit was ready to go, Sander tied a -long rope to the rocket. After of rope had been unwound, the line broke, and this rocket also disappeared in the area, probably near the Opel proving ground and racetrack in Rüsselsheim, the "Rennbahn". Sander and Opel also worked on an innovative liquid-propellant rocket engine for an anticipated flight across the English Channel. By May 1929, the engine produced a thrust of 200 kg (440 lb.) "for longer than fifteen minutes, and in July 1929, the Opel RAK collaborators were able to attain powered phases of more than thirty minutes for thrusts of 300 kg (660-lb.) at Opel's works in Rüsselsheim," again according to Max Valier's account. The
Great Depression led to an end of the Opel-RAK program, but Max Valier continued the efforts. After switching from solid-fuel to liquid-fuel rockets, he died while testing and is considered the first fatality of the dawning space age. Sander's technology was confiscated by the German military in 1935. He was forced to sell his company and was imprisoned for treason. He died in 1938. In March 1929, General Motors (GM), impressed by Opel's modern production facilities, bought 80% of the company. The Opel family gained $33.3 million from the transaction. Subsequently, during 1935, a second factory was built at
Brandenburg for the production of "
Blitz" light trucks. In 1929 Opel licensed the design of the radical
Neander motorcycle and produced it as the Opel Motoclub in 1929 and 1930, using Küchen,
J.A.P., and
Motosacoche engines.
Fritz von Opel attached solid-fuel rockets to his Motoclub in a publicity stunt, riding the rocket-boosted motorcycle at the
Avus racetrack. After acquiring the remaining shares in 1931, General Motors had full ownership of Adam Opel AG and organized it as a wholly owned subsidiary. In 1935, Opel became the first German car manufacturer to produce over 100,000 vehicles annually. This was because of the popularity of the
Opel P4 model. The sales price was 1,650 marks and the car had a 1.1 L four-cylinder engine achieving a top speed of . assembly at the
Brandenburg plant, 1936 Opel also produced the first mass-production vehicle in Germany with a
self-supporting ("unibody") all-steel body, closely following the 1934
Citroën Traction Avant. This was one of the most important innovations in automotive history. Launched in 1935, the
Olympia was light and its aerodynamics enhanced performance and fuel economy. The 1930s was a decade of growth, and by 1937, with 130,267 cars produced. Opel's Rüsselsheim facility was Europe's top in terms of vehicle production, and ranking seventh worldwide. During the rise of
Nazism, Opel benefited from the efforts of the Nazi Party to endear itself to the German public by gaining tax-exempt status to produce inexpensive cars. Opel's share of the German car market expanded from 35 per cent in 1933 over 50 per cent in 1935. 1938 saw the presentation of the highly successful
Kapitän. With a 2.5 L six-cylinder engine, all-steel body, front independent suspension, hydraulic shock absorbers, hot-water heating (with electric blower), and central speedometer. 25,374 Kapitäns were made before the intensification of
World War II brought automotive manufacturing to a temporary stop in the autumn of 1940, by order of the government.
World War II Immediately prior to World War II, the American leadership of
General Motors was philosophically of the opinion that, as
Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., chairman of the GM board wrote, an "international business operating throughout the world, should conduct its operations in strictly business terms, without regard to the political beliefs of its management, or the beliefs of the country in which it is operating." Thus, by 1939, along with Ford, Opel was Germany's largest tank producer. While some sources indicate Opel automobile production ended in October 1940, after the company's American leadership rejected an "invitation" to switch to munitions manufacture a few months earlier, , Opel continued to produce trucks throughout the war. The
Opel Blitz was used in large numbers by the
Wehrmacht on many fronts for various purposes, including servicing military transports. Truck manufacture continued at the
Brandenburg plant, where the 3.6-liter
Opel Blitz truck had been built since 1938. These trucks were also built under license by Daimler-Benz in
Mannheim. The degree of control that General Motors in the US had over Opel at the time is subject to debate, but by production numbers alone, it is evident that Opel was heavily involved in production of trucks and other equipment. The Opel Blitz was one of the vehicles used by Germans in The Holocaust as a gas van to kill with carbon monoxide.
1945–1970 After the end of the war, with the
Brandenburg plant dismantled and transported to the Soviet Union to become the base of the
Moskvitch 400, and 47% of the buildings in Rüsselsheim destroyed, former Opel employees began to rebuild the Rüsselsheim plant. The first postwar
Opel Blitz truck was completed on 15 July 1946 in the presence of
United States Army General
Geoffrey Keyes and other local leaders and press reporters. File:Opel-Fridgidaire.jpg|Opel product of the 1940s:
Frigidaire refrigerator File:Opel Kapitän 1952 Fahrzeugausstellung Malter (cropped).jpg|1952 Opel Kapitän File:Opel Rekord 1700 P1 (2008-06-14) ret.jpg|
Opel Rekord P1 (1957–1960)
1970–2017 During the 1970s and 1980s, the Vauxhall and Opel ranges were rationalised into one consistent range across Europe. The 1973 version of the
Opel Kadett was later rebadged in hatchback, saloon, and estate form as the
Vauxhall Chevette for the UK market, with German factories producing the Opel versions. The
Opel Ascona of this era was sold on the UK market (and made in British and continental factories) as the
Vauxhall Cavalier. Both of these cars had mild styling changes, as did the flagship
Opel Rekord and
Vauxhall Carlton saloon and estate ranges, which went on sale towards the end of the 1970s. By the 1970s, Opel had emerged as the stronger of GM's two European brands; Vauxhall was the third-best-selling brand in Great Britain after the
British Motor Corporation (later
British Leyland) but made only a modest impact elsewhere. The two companies were direct competitors outside of each other's respective home markets. Still, mirroring US automaker Ford's decision to merge its British and German subsidiaries in the late 1960s, GM followed the same precedent. Opel and Vauxhall had loosely collaborated before, but serious efforts to merge the two companies' operations and product families into one did not start until the 1970s – which had Vauxhall's complete product line replaced by vehicles built on Opel-based platforms – the only exception to the rule being the
Bedford CF panel van. This only solely Vauxhall design was marketed as an Opel on the continent. By the turn of the 1980s, the two brands were, in effect, the same. Opel's first front-wheel drive car – the new version of the Kadett – entered production in 1979, initially built in Germany and Belgium. It was sold in the UK alongside the stronger-selling Vauxhall version – the
Astra – which entered UK production in 1981. During the 1970s, Opel expressed interest in building an additional production facility in
Spain and eventually settled on a location near
Zaragoza, intending to develop a new supermini for the 1980s there. The factory opened in 1982, and its first product was the
Opel Corsa (imported to the UK as the
Vauxhall Nova from 1983). The Ascona switched to front-wheel drive for an all-new General Motors J-Car global model format in 1981, with the Cavalier nameplate continuing for the UK market. The Kadett was revamped again in 1984, and became the company's first winner of the
European Car of the Year accolade. The Rekord's successor, the
Opel Omega (still Vauxhall Carlton in the UK), achieved the same success two years later. The long-running Ascona nameplate was discontinued in 1988, with its replacement being sold as the
Vectra, although the UK market version was still sold as the Vauxhall Cavalier. The Opel Manta coupe was also discontinued in 1988, with its Vectra-based successor, the
Calibra, being launched the following year. Soon afterward, Opel launched a high-performance version of the Omega – the Lotus Omega (Lotus Carlton in the UK) – which featured Lotus-tuned suspension and had a top speed of 175 mph. Opel's first turbocharged car was the
Opel Rekord 2.3 TD, first shown at
Geneva in March 1984. In the 1990s, Opel was considered GM's cash cow, with profit margins similar to Toyota's. Opel's profit helped to offset GM's losses in North America and to fund GM's expansion into Asia. 1999 was the last time when Opel was profitable for an entire year after almost 20 years. The first major Opel launch of the 1990s was the 1991 Astra, which spelled the end for the Kadett nameplate that had debuted more than 50 years earlier. The company also turned to
Japanese
Isuzu for its first SUV, the
Frontera, which was also launched in 1991 but produced in Europe despite its Japanese origins. The larger
Monterey joined the company's SUV line-up in 1994, but had been dropped from the UK and continental markets by 2000 due to disappointing sales. At the end of 1992, the company unveiled a completely new Corsa, which, like the original model, was produced at the Zaragoza plant. This car carried the Corsa nameplate on the UK market as a Vauxhall. A second generation Omega was launched in early 1994. It remained in production for a decade, but when production finished, there was no direct successor due to declining sales of executive saloon models from mainstream brands. A Corsa-based coupe, the
Tigra, was also launched around this time and lasted in production for six years. The second generation Opel Vectra was launched in 1995, with the Vectra nameplate now extending to the Vauxhall version in the UK. The first Opel MPV, the
Sintra, was launched in Europe in 1996, imported from the US where it was sold as a
Pontiac, but discontinued after three years due to disappointing sales. The Vauxhall-badged UK market version was also slated in motoring surveys for its dismal build quality and reliability. 1997 saw the demise of the Calibra coupe after an eight-year production, with no immediate replacement. The Opel Astra hatchbacks, saloons, and estate were wholly revamped for 1998 and, within two years, had also spawned coupe and cabriolet versions, as well as a compact MPV, the
Zafira. In 1999, Opel unveiled its first sports car, the
Speedster (Vauxhall VX220 in the UK). However, it was not a success and was discontinued in 2005. The company moved into the city car market in early 2000 with the
Agila launch. The third generation Opel Corsa was launched in 2000, followed by a new version of the Vectra in 2002 and the Astra in 2004. Three generations of Vectra gave way to the
Insignia in 2008, with the new model becoming the company's first European Car of the Year award winner for 22 years. After the
2008 financial crisis, and the
General Motors Chapter 11 reorganization, on 10 September 2009, GM agreed to sell a 55% stake in Opel to a consortium including
Magna group and
Sberbank – with the approval of the German government. The deal was later called off. With ongoing restructuring plans, Opel announced the closure of its
Antwerp plant in
Belgium by the end of 2010. In 2010, Opel announced that it would invest around
€11 billion in the next five years. €1 billion of that was designated solely for the development of innovative and fuel-saving engines and transmissions. On 29 February 2012, Opel announced the creation of a major alliance with
PSA Peugeot Citroen, resulting in GM taking a 7% share of PSA, becoming PSA's second-largest shareholder after the Peugeot family. The alliance was intended to enable $2 billion per year of cost savings through platform sharing, common purchasing, and other economies of scale. In December 2013, GM sold its 7% interest in PSA for £250 million, after plans of cost savings were not as successful. GM reported a 2016 loss of US$257 million from its European operations. It is reported that GM has lost about US$20 billion in Europe since 1999. Opel's plant in
Bochum closed in December 2014, after 52 years of activity, due to overcapacity. Opel withdrew from China, where it had a network of 22 dealers, in early 2015 after General Motors decided to withdraw its Chevrolet brand from Europe starting in 2016.
2017–present In March 2017, the
PSA Group agreed to buy Opel, its British sister brand
Vauxhall and their European auto lending business from
General Motors for 2.2 billion. In return, General Motors will pay PSA US$3.2 billion for future European pension obligations and keep managing US$9.8 billion worth of plans for existing retirees. Furthermore, GM is responsible for paying about US$400 million annually for 15 years to fund the existing pension plans in Great Britain and Germany. The acquisition of Opel and Vauxhall was completed in August 2017. In the 2018 financial year, Opel achieved an operating income of €859 million. It was the first positive income since 1999. On 16 January 2021, Opel became part of
Stellantis following the merger of its parent company
PSA Group with the Italian-American group
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. In September 2021, Stellantis appointed Uwe Hochgeschurtz to Opel's management to replace Michael Lohscheller who left to
Vinfast. ==Company==