Newcomer’s arrival comes admits imminent job cuts of 650 engineering staff at Opel’s Rüsselsheim homebase.
Opel’s parent company, Stellantis, has confirmed it will debut a new electric SUV in 2028 underpinned by its Chinese start-up division, Leapmotor.
International effort
Likely, but unconfirmed, to possibly slot-in between the Mokka and Frontera, but below the Grandland, the new model will be built at the Zaragoza plant in Spain that produces not only the Corsa, but also the Peugeot 208, Lancia Ypsilon and soon, the Leapmotor B10.
“With this project, Opel would bring together German engineering excellence with global technological innovation speed,” Opel supervisory board chairman, Xavier Chéreau, said in a statement.
“This innovative spirit defines the next chapter of our global collaboration with Leapmotor, and Opel is taking on a pioneering role with this project”.
Split role
In the same announcement, Opel CEO Florian Huettl said principal design will be led by Opel at its home base in Rüsselsheim, with development being a joint affair between Germany and China.
“The partnership with Leapmotor should enable a development time of less than two years,” Huettl said.
“With this, Opel is planning a further important step in the development of state-of-the-art and accessible electric vehicles for our customers”.
Not all good
A project likely to be expanded to Opel’s Vauxhall brand in the United Kingdom as well, the confirmation of the new arrival comes amid looming job cuts of up to 650 staff in Germany.
According to carscoops.com, the reduction mainly involves the brand’s engineering department in Rüsselsheim, which will reduce its employee count in said field to 1 000.
The statement also confirms the new Leapmotor-based model as being “intended to serve as a blueprint for efficient global collaboration”.
Opel by Leapmotor
Despite Opel’s otherwise silence on the model, the carscoops report names the Leapmotor B10 as the most likely model to serve as the base.
Developed specifically for Europe, the all-electric B10 is under scrutiny for South African introduction in the third quarter of this year.
More later
As it stands, only expect more details of the Leapmotor-underpinned Opel to emerge next year.
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