Opel Brand to Return to Russian Market

PSA Group plans to relaunch the Opel brand in Russia with a mix of imported and perhaps locally produced models.

Opel exited the Russian market in 2015 when the company was owned by General Motors Co. GM sold Opel to PSA two years later. PSA says the Opel-branded vehicles it plans to introduce in Russia all will ride on PSA platforms, Automotive News reports.

Opel CEO Michael Lohscheller tells reporters that local production a key to successful car sales in Russia.

PSA already assembles Peugeot and Citroen cars at a plant in Kaluga that is 30% owned by Mitsubishi Motors Corp. The facility has the capacity to make 120,000 cars and light vans per year for the Russian market but last year produced only 38,100 units,

Overall car sales in Russia shrank 51% to 1.43 million units from 2013 to 2017. By the end of last year, volume had climbed 26% to 1.80 million, according to the Moscow-based Assn. of European Businesses.