GM Plans to More Closely Intertwine Buick and Opel Brands

According to a recent news release, GM has decided to integrate production development between the GM Buick and the European GM Opel recently announced it will be coming to the states.

GM’s Vice President Steve Grisky explained to Reuters about this strategy in a recent interview. As a result of this strategy, more GM customers in the United States can expect some European influence to the newer Buick models.

GM decided to intertwine the production between these two brands to save on costs. Development costs were becoming too high according to corporate officers. So, to save on time and money, the production lines are going to slowly integrate over time. Although designs will remain the same, helping to aesthetically differentiate between the Buick and the Opel, internal parts and equipment will become similar between the two brands.

Currently. the Buick is sold in U.S. and Chinese markets while the Opel is mostly within the European market. To save on the unique costs of having two distinct models in several different markets, the Buick and the Opel will share the same production parts. This is in contrast to many competitors who produce basic architecture designs which are then conformed to different brand models. This strategy essentially reverses the production, where all brand models conform to basic designs. This helps the production line produce a model which can become a Buick or Opel quickly and then transported to its respective market.

It may prove to be an effective strategy, especially since GM models like the Cadillac and Chevrolet internationally popular models, but the Buick and the Opel are more regional car brands. By streamlining the production line and making the development of the models more efficient, both models may be able to increase their gross profits in their respective markets. Reducing production cost will be very helpful especially since the models have had some rough patches in their respective markets. The U.S. market continues to buy Buicks, but China’s demand for the Buick has waned. The Opel has also suffered in Europe. Although sales figures still need to rise, making the model production more efficient could reduce investment costs for GM, helping them recover some profits even in weak markets.

Currently, GM is readying a new line of motor vehicles for its Buick and Opel brands. The Global Delta family will Opel and Buick cars that are compact family vehicles, while Global Epsilon will be Buick and Opel brands that are midsize family vehicles. Global Delta will produce the Opel Astra, the Opel Antara SUV, a new design for the Opel Cascada, and the Buick Envision crossover. Global Epsilon will produce new lines of the Buick Regal and Buick LaCrosse, a new generation Buick Enclave, and a new design for the Opel Insignia. Completely new models are also being produced, such as the Opel Adam, which is a new hatchback model and a not named model being nicknamed as Opel Eve which will be a 2-door sibling to the Adam.