WORLDWIDE SALES 2015 - Vauxhall/Opel has it's best year since 2011 with over 1.1 million units sold.

• Highest sales and market share in four years
• Largest van sales and market share in seven years
• Over 80,000 orders for new Astra across Europe already 

Opel, including Vauxhall in the UK, has achieved its best sales result in four years despite the strategic retreat from the Russian market. According to preliminary data, the company delivered more than 1.1 million vehicles in 2015. This represents an increase of over 35,000 units or 3.3 per cent compared to 2014, growing slightly stronger than the overall European market. 

Opel’s share of the total European vehicle market therefore increased for the third year in a row to around 5.8 per cent, the brand’s best sales and market share results since 2011.

“2015 was the best year for Opel since 2011 thanks to our product offensive. We have increased our volume and our market share and are optimistic that we will be able to continue this success in 2016,” said Peter Christian Küspert, Vice President Sales & Aftersales of the Opel Group.

“The reason for optimism is partially driven by the new Astra. It has already been ordered more than 80,000 times despite only arriving at dealerships in most European markets during the course of November. And we expect a lot from the Sports Tourer variant that will be produced as of spring 2016.”

The carmaker achieved sales volume increases in 20 markets last year including its largest, Vauxhall in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Market share was up in 10 European markets.

The Mokka saw the strongest year-over-year growth in the passenger car portfolio with an increase of 16 per cent. Corsa registrations were up 6 per cent.

It is also notable that Opel and Vauxhall were able to sell over 100,000 commercial vehicles in 2015, growing 24 per cent versus 2014 – significantly outgrowing the market which was up 9 per cent and posting the brands highest sales and market share results in the market segment since 2008. All three van lines recorded an increase in volume with the Vivaro up 38 per cent, Movano 27 per cent and the Combo 12 per cent.

In the UK, Vauxhall recorded volume growth year-on-year for the sixth consecutive year since 2009. Three cars featured in the top 10 bestsellers including Corsa, Astra and Mokka. Insignia, Zafira Tourer and Mokka were all number one in their respective segments.

2015 was another great year for Vauxhall Commercial Vehicles, the Luton-based manufacturer sold more vans to retail customers last year than any other manufacturer. Total Vauxhall van sales were up 28 per cent with over 41,000 sold. The Brit-built Vivaro enjoyed another successful year in 2015 with more than 27,000 units sold of the multi award-winning medium van.

Opel to voluntarily re-test all its models for CO2 and NOX emissions after issues were raised.

• Engineering initiative for more transparency and credibility
• From Q2 2016, Opel will start publishing WLTP cycle fuel consumption numbers for specific models reflecting more everyday driving conditions
• Engineers developing improved SCR diesel applications – improvement towards RDE NOx specifications, including voluntary customer satisfaction field action

Opel is voluntarily taking the next step to meet future emissions guidelines, both on CO₂ and NOx. From Q2 2016, and in addition to the official fuel consumption and CO₂ information, fuel consumption numbers recorded under the WLTP cycle will also be published. In addition, diesel engineers have recently started working on an initiative to implement NOx emission improvements on SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) diesel applications. 

This is a voluntary and early improvement towards the so-called RDE (Real Driving Emissions) legislation that goes into effect in 2017. Opel is committed to providing the testing authorities transparency.

“The events and discussions in the last weeks and months have shown that there is a tremendous focus on the automotive industry and it is now time to act based on the learnings,” says Opel Group CEO Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann. 

“It is obvious to me that the diesel discussion is a turning point. The world is not as it was before. We cannot ignore this and it is in the hands of the automotive industry to change the perception of the new reality.”

Fuel Consumption and CO₂

From Q2 2016, and in addition to the official fuel consumption and CO₂ information of Opel models, fuel consumption numbers recorded under the WLTP cycle will be published, starting with the new Astra. This procedure has broad industry acceptance and has been developed to be more representative of what customers will experience in use. 

According to EU plans, the “New European Driving Cycle” (NEDC) will be replaced starting in 2017 with the more modern standard “Worldwide Harmonized Light Duty Vehicles Test Procedure” (WLTP). 

The WLTP – also a test conducted in laboratory conditions – is based on stringent test procedures, more consistent with fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions in real-life road traffic. This new test cycle is important to maintain standardized, reproducible and comparable results.

SCR Technology

Related to NOx emissions, Opel is also acting right now. The Rüsselsheim automaker has started working on improved solutions for the effectiveness of exhaust gas treatment systems in Euro 6 diesel engines with SCR technology to make improvements in the direction of future RDE guidelines. RDE is the real driving emissions standard which supplements current test methods and measures a car’s emissions directly on the road.

"Our analyses in the last months show that we have no devices that tell us if our vehicles are in a test cycle or not. 

Nevertheless, we also believe that we are capable of further improving the effectiveness of reduction of oxides of nitrogen emissions from our Euro 6 diesels with SCR technology and so we are making an improvement towards future RDE specifications,” emphasizes Dr. Neumann. “We will use SCR as the mainstream system for Euro 6 diesel going forward as we continue to develop improved technologies to explore higher efficiencies.”

The work on this Euro 6 SCR improvement has started and we expect a production implementation as of the summer of 2016. This activity will also include a voluntary customer satisfaction field action that will involve 43.000 vehicles that are already on the road in Europe (Zafira Tourer, Insignia and Cascada).These vehicles will get a new calibration once it becomes available.

Opel CEO Dr. Neumann also calls for improving the transparency between automakers and authorities in Europe. “In the USA, the companies disclose their complete calibration philosophy to authorities. I would like to see us embrace this practice in Europe.” 

In this context, the Opel CEO also wants to suggest that all automakers that are active in Europe take part in a negotiated agreement for more transparency.