Opel launches in New Zealand

Thursday, 24 March 2022

Opel is poised to become New Zealand's latest new car brand, landing with an electrified line up that will all be eligible for the Clean Car Discount.

For many years German brand Opel was just what Holdens were called in Europe to most people, but go further back and the European outfit has deeper ties to this part of the world.

While a number of Holdens over the years were simply rebadged Opels, the most obvious link was the fact that a very iconic Holden owes its existence to the Opel Rekord that was the basis of the first Commodore, with the German brand continuing – to one degree or another – being the basis of the Commodore up until the first all-Aussie effort, the VE from 2006.

The Opel Manta is coming back as an all-electric performance coupe.

Of course, the very last Commodore – the ZB – was also a rebadged FWD/AWD Opel Insignia that, while an exceptionally good car, didn’t go down well with the all-Aussie RWD faithful and signified a sad and messy end to Holden.

It was all destined to come to a messy end, however, as General Motors had already sold Opel and Vauxhall to the PSA Group – owner of Peugeot and Citroen – by the time the ZB launched, and the PSA Group has since been absorbed into the massive carmaker Stellantis that also owns Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat.

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The Mokka small SUV will no doubt be the headline act in New Zealand, being available in ICE and EV forms.

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The small Corsa will be joining the local Opel line up in due course.

What does all of that have to do with anything? Well, freed of the oppressive and neglectful grip of GM, and sourced through the same distributor as Peugeot and Citroen, Opel is now making a stand under its own name in New Zealand.

While Opel was very briefly launched in this part of the world back in 2012 (in Australia), that didn’t stick due to GM’s wavering commitment to the parts of the world that weren’t the USA. This new go at it comes courtesy of New Zealand’s Peugeot and Citroen distributor, Auto Distributors New Zealand (ADNZ) part of the Armstrong Group.

Headed by former Volkswagen and Hyundai New Zealand boss Tom Ruddenklau, Opel will be launching into New Zealand with a range poised to make the absolute most of the incoming Clean Car Standard, with every one of its models sitting under the key 146g CO2 mark, making them eligible for a rebate under the scheme.

The Grandland medium SUV will be available as a plug-in hybrid.

Ruddenklau says he was tempted back into the car industry after he took a look at Opel’s range in regard to the upcoming Clean Car Discount standard.

“I’m pretty passionate about this, because I think there is some change coming for New Zealand. My wife asked if New Zealand needed another car brand, and I said not unless it’s going to make a difference.

“Opel is going to be a bit of a game-changer in this country.”

Coming under the Stellantis umbrella has opened up markets like New Zealand to Opel, as its parent company has a strong focus on meeting global CO2 regulations in whatever market it operates in.

However, with Australia not likely to be seeing Opel products on its shores any time soon, the question of whether a small market like New Zealand will be able secure supply in the face of global demand and production delays is raised.

“There’s lots of rhetoric that says little old New Zealand is not important, and therefore we won’t get electric cars, but Opel realises the (Clean Car) scheme makes New Zealand an important market for them,” said Ruddenklau.

The headline act of Opel’s local range will without a doubt be the Mokka small SUV that is generating excellent reviews in European press – it will come here in two forms, with either a 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol engine and 8-speed automatic transmission (that with 127g/km of CO2 will attract a $2080 rebate) or an all-electric version with a 50kWh battery and 354km of range that will get the full $8625 rebate.

Next up will be the new Astra (a familiar name for Kiwi car buyers) that will initially land here with the 1.2-litre engine/8-speed auto combo (eligible for a $2650 rebate) and a plug-in hybrid version with an all-electric range of 59km and a combined power output of 165kW that will qualify for a $5750 rebate. A fully-electric version of the Astra will follow sometime in 2023.

The Grandland medium SUV will pack the same powertrains as the Astra, with the 1.2 model eligible for a $1510 rebate and the PHEV a $5750 one, while the all-new Corsa small hatch will join the line-up in 2023 in both ICE and EV variants.

If the model range seems somewhat familiar, that is because all new Opels are based on the same underpinnings as the equivalent Peugeot models, with the Mokka and Corsa sharing platforms with the Peugeot 208 and 2008, while the Astra shares its with the Peugeot 308. The Grandland shares its underpinnings with the Peugeot 3008 and 5008, as well as the Citroen C5 Aircross.

While no pricing has been announced just yet – although clearly there is nothing over the $80k Clean car Discount cap – Opel is promising “affordable pricing for New Zealand”, and is introducing finance programmes that it says will make it easier for Kiwis to buy into an EV.

Ruddenklau says that he expects the first cars to land here at the end of July or early August, with the full line up by the end of the year. While the company also hasn’t revealed its dealership network yet either, at launch it will have six dealerships around the country, increasing to 11 in 2023.

He also says that Opel has plans to launch its fully-electrified commercial range in New Zealand by 2024, which includes the small Combo, the mid-size Vivaro and the large Movano.