Media Information
5th May 2015
Opel and GM Say Thank You 500 Million Times

Unique group highlight: 500 million cars built since 1908

Celebration in Rüsselsheim: Anniversary Zafira as gift for loyal Opel customer

Historical review: Legendary cars and top technologies
General Motors today celebrated an impressive production milestone: since the company’s
founding in 1908, more than 500 million vehicles have been delivered to customers around
the world – no other automaker can look back at such production numbers. Opel, one of
the group’s tradition-rich brands, played a large role in this: the German carmaker built 68
million cars, most of them at the main plant in Rüsselsheim.
To mark the occasion, loyal customers were invited to dinner with the Board in the historic
ambience of the Opel Classic Car garage in the Opel’s German headquarters. Dr.
Neumann: “For me this anniversary is more than just an impressive number, because 500
million cars stand for 500 million customers, for their stories and experiences. We say
‘thank you’ 500 million times to these customers for their loyalty and trust, because it is a
privilege for us to play such an important role in their lives.”
GM celebrated the 500 million milestone around the globe. Simultaneously to the
celebrations in Rüsselsheim, celebrations were also held in the Group’s production
facilities in North and South America, Asia, Africa and China.
Opel has been a part of the GM family since 1929 – and many milestones paved the way
in this journey with legendary cars like the Kadett, Rekord, GT, Manta and Kapitän.
Through it all, Opel has always stood for technological innovations that offer customers
high utility value and benefits – for example in 1989 when the Rüsselsheim automaker was
the first brand to equip its cars with a catalytic converter as standard. The guiding principle
“We make technology that is otherwise only available in the luxury class affordable for
everyone” remains a cornerstone of the brand’s philosophy to this day. True to this
Adam Opel AG
D-65423 Rüsselsheim
media.opel.com
Page 2
tradition, another highlight is coming up: Opel OnStar. The personal service and mobility
assistant will become available this year, turning the vehicle into a mobile internet hotspot.
Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann: “Every year, Opel sells more than one million cars – with a
continuing upwards trend as we are in the middle of our model and engine offensive. The
highlight of this year is the presentation of the new Astra. I promise you, also on behalf of
our 35,000 employees: this car will once again thrill our customers, and gain a lot of new
fans for the brand.”
-ENDSNotes to Editors:
Opel is a German vehicle manufacturer, headquartered in Rüsselsheim, Germany and is a
subsidiary of General Motors (GM). The company was founded in 1862 and began manufacturing
vehicles in 1899. Today Opel operates in over 50 countries, has 12 manufacturing facilities in
Europe and employs over 34,500 people. In 2014, Opel sold 1.25 million vehicles and has a market
share of 5.74% in Europe. From 2014 – 2018, Opel plans to overhaul its model powertrain range
with the introduction of 27 new models and 17 new engines.
Media Information
Laura Condron | Senior Brand & PR Manager | 01 216 1055 | laura.condron@opel.com
Text and photos can be downloaded at http://media.opel.ie