Opel Adam in sales funk following strong early response?

Thu, 03 Oct 2013

Opel had an early hit with the Adam, a minicar named after the company's founder, but it appears sales are now tapering off, leading the General Motors-owned German brand to ease off production.

German Car Scene reported yesterday that slow sales have stung the handsome Adam, with only 1,226 cars sold in August, which GCS argues is due to the car's relatively high starting price relative to the competition. The Adam starts at 11,500 euro ($15,627), whereas a microcar like the Volkswagen Up! is only about 10,000 euro ($13,589). Rumors are that the slowdown has forced Opel to trim a week of production at the Adam's Eisenach factory.

Opel contests the reason for altering factory production, telling Automotive News Europe Adam - which is also sold in the UK with a Vauxhall badge - sales are "fine," before adding, "We are having some down days in October, mainly because of the Corsa production, a model which is in the later stages of its life cycle."

By Brandon Turkus