Opel 1900, page #12

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2013 Opel Cascada

The Future Buick Verano Convertible?
I wasn't wearing a pedometer while in Germany covering the Frankfurt Motor Show this year, but it's safe to say I walked more than a few miles between press conferences, shooting cars and trekking back to the media center on the first day alone. For this reason, it didn't take much convincing from General Motors for me to duck out of the Messe a day early and drive some of its latest Opel models. No, this didn't include the all-new Country Tourer, but I was able to drive the Opel Mokka (our Buick Encore), the Opel Adam and the Opel Cascada.
I focused most of my driving time behind the wheel of the Cascada, which went on sale in Europe earlier this year, since rumors are swirling that a Buick version of this convertible "could happen soon." Buick hasn't had a convertible since the Reatta, and GM has been lacking a non-performance, budget-minded convertible since the Pontiac brand - and its G6 - was dropped, so adding the Cascada to Buick showrooms could further help the reemerging brand compete in the near-luxury segment. Although the weather was too chilly (and occasionally rainy) to enjoy the Cascada with its top down for very long, I was able to clock a fair bit of drive time behind the wheel on roads ranging from the autobahn to tight roads in small, quaint villages.

Opel Cascada close to getting green light for US

For a company with a long tradition of grand touring convertibles, it's almost unseemly that General Motors doesn't offer a properly relaxed four-seat convertible in North America. There's the Chevrolet Camaro, of course, but it's not big on rear-seat space and it doesn't offer that sort of serene demeanor that many open-air buyers crave. We're thinking of something more refined and, dare we say, elegant. Something a bit closer to the Opel Cascada.
The General's front-wheel drive convertible went on sale in Europe this year, and while it seemed like a natural fit for its Buick brand in America, it's never been sold here. That may be about to change, however. Back in June, CEO Dan Akerson hinted he'd like to see the Cascada available in the US, and now there's word from Edmunds that importation "could happen soon." That's according to an unnamed insider at the company.
It's almost unseemly that GM doesn't offer a relaxed four-seat convertible.

Opel gets its Regal on with the new Insignia, OPC lineup

If we had to pick an Opel to join the Buick range, it's an overwhelmingly safe bet that it'd be the new Insignia OPC Tourer, a 325-horsepower, all-wheel drive wagon, with an optional six-speed manual and the ability to hit 60 in a (sandbagged) 6.3 seconds. It makes its American equivalent, the Buick Regal GS, look like that limp-wristed cousin you use to beat up at family barbecues.
Of course, being a cool European car, we'll probably never, ever see one. That's why we made a point of taking a look at the refreshed 2014 model on the floor of the Frankfurt Motor Show. It was parked alongside the 2014 Insignia OPC Sedan and the standard 2014 Insignia. We've got a gallery of all three vehicles, with the standard Insignia up top, and the OPC variants at the bottom.

Opel Insignia Country Tourer is the Buick crossover we really want [w/video]

Opel brought out its entire Insignia range for the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show, with particular attention paid to each new models refreshed features. Like its colonial cousin, the Buick Regal, the Insignia has gotten a fairly standard mid-cycle freshening that's designed to tide customers over until the next-generation model arrives.
One of the models we've been rather curious about since its debut a few months back was the Insignia Country Tourer - a sort of competitor for soft-roaders like the Subaru Outback and Audi Allroad - that will only be sold in Europe. The lifted, five-door Insignia is distantly related to our Regal, but strikes us as a much more capable, better driving vehicle than the lumbering beast that is the Buick Enclave. Certainly, we'd have no qualms about the Insignia Country Tourer coming to the US and slotting in between the Encore and Enclave. Wishful thinking we know, but do you really blame us?
Take a look up top for our full suite of live images, while photos and a press release on the Insignia Country Tourer are down below. We've also got video of the Country Tourer, which looks like b-roll footage from an episode of Top Gear. Scroll down for more.

Opel Monza Concept soars into Frankfurt [w/video]

Opel has a handful of debuts hitting the stage at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show, but the most significant is the sleek Monza Concept. Reviving the Monza name, Opel says this concept will inspire future models for the brand, but between the styling, technology and powertrain, it isn't clear which of these will make it to production. We're hoping for all of the above.
From a styling standpoint, the Monza Concept blends the look of a coupe and shooting brake. The front end of the car is defined by its LED headlights, the low grille and its long hood. In profile, Opel's signature hockey stick body crease is obvious, but this is also the cut line for the large gullwing doors, which when open make the Monza look like it is ready to take flight.
The doors also provide a wide opening through which to view the cabin's 2+2 seating configuration. The crown jewel of the interior - and perhaps the whole car - is the instrument panel. Spanning the entire dash is an LED projection display for the car's infotainment system.

Opel Insignia OPC Sports Tourer shows its fresh face ahead of Frankfurt debut

Drive down the Autobahn and there's any number of vehicles likely to pass you, and most of them are produced locally. But if you're wondering how that Opel left you in its dust, look closely (and quickly) enough and you might make out the letters OPC on the back.
They stand for Opel Performance Center (the German counterpart to Vauxhall's VXR line) and they adorn performance versions of the Corsa, Astra and Insignia. The latter is undergoing a bit of a refresh and is expected to debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in a couple of weeks, but you don't have to wait that long as our intrepid spy photographers have caught it in the flesh outside an Opel facility in Germany.
Spied here completely undisguised in Sports Tourer (read: wagon) form, the Insignia has had a few nips and tucks performed, but we'll be more intrigued to see what it's got under the hood. The current model packs a 2.8-liter twin-turbo V6 driving 325 horsepower to all four wheels, but rumors suggest that the OPC (yeah you know me!) could have as much as 400 hp up its sleeve. That would make this one heck of a sleeper - especially in wagon form - and only make us pine for a more potent version of its twin Buick Regal to roam our highways, too.

Monza concept opens its wings and lets us in on Opel's future

Opel has done a lot to revitalize itself over the past few years, developing a solid product portfolio with hatchbacks, sedans, wagons, minivans and crossovers. What it's missing, though, is a sports coupe - because, let's face it, the Cascada cabrio hardly fits the bill.
Hopes were raised when Opel revealed it was working on a new Monza concept, reviving a nameplate borrowed from an Italian racetrack and previously used on a six-cylinder fastback version of the Senator sedan. Opel has now revealed the Monza in full, but it's neither the sportscar we expected nor the harbinger of a new production model - much less one we could look forward to General Motors porting over as a Buick coupe, for that matter.
What you're looking at instead is a design study that hints at the way Opel will style its cars moving forward. Sized in between the Astra and Insignia, the Monza concept has two giant gullwing doors to give access to both front and rear seats, which is probably your first clue that this is more of a show car than a pre-production prototype. Inside, the futuristic cabin features an LED projection dashboard with 3D graphics, new social interactive systems and a lot of swoopy forms and curved wood.

Opel 3-cyl headed for 2016 Chevy Volt?

The Chevrolet Volt could be in for a significant redo in the next 18 to 24 months, according to a report from Automotive News. When the new model comes on line in late 2015 or early 2016, besides the regular spate of interior and exterior styling tweaks, the next Volt could feature a three-cylinder engine under its aerodynamic hood.
While AN thinks it's a 1.0- or 1.2-liter three-pot, Motor Trend is more definitive, claiming the new mill is the all-aluminum, turbocharged three that will arrive in the Opel Adam in 2014. In that setting, it will generate 115 horsepower and 122 pound-feet of torque. That's 31 horsepower more than the 1.4-liter, naturally aspirated four-cylinder in the current Volt.
New engines aren't the only change Automotive News thinks is coming to the Volt - a bespoke, lightweight platform will underpin the second-generation model. The hybrid currently shares its bones with the Chevy Cruze and Buick Verano, but a dedicated platform could help the Volt hit its future fuel economy targets.

Dissecting Opel's failure in Australia

As we reported last week, Opel, General Motors' German subsidiary, announced that it was pulling out of the Australian market after less than a year. The brand sold a meager 1,530 cars from August of 2012 to June of 2013, and simply never really appeared as a legit competitor to its primary target - Volkswagen.
Now, Car Advice is wondering what went so wrong. In a lengthy story, the Aussie publication interviews a number of dealers and Opel Australia's PR manager, Michelle Lang, about the shut down, what preceded it and why Opel's efforts were kind of broken from the start. What's remarkable is that it sheds light on the thought pattern behind the shutdown, which makes a fair amount of sense.
Click over to Car Advice for the full read, it's a good one.

Opel Australia shuttered after less than one year

General Motors has announced that it will shutter Opel's Australian division less than a year after launching the brand in the market. GM's decision to bring Opel, a German-based moniker that the automaker has been trying to figure out what to do with for years, to Australia in August of 2012 never really picked up steam - by June of 2013, the brand had only sold 1,530 cars.
Opel currently has 20 dealers, most of which are part of multi-franchise corporations, which should limit job losses. The future is less certain for 15 Opel staffers in Melbourne, who may or may not be offered positions at Holden, GM's original Australian brand.
The decision to leave the market shouldn't affect the handful of Opel customers. It's likely that the German brand will follow Saab's example, and pass off warranty responsibilities and service duties to another GM brand (Holden, in this case). Opel only ever offered three vehicles in Australia - the flagship Insignia (Buick Regal), the brand's best-selling Astra hatchback and the Corsa subcompact.