Who owns Opel? All info

Who owns Opel is not immediately clear to most car customers. Although it is a traditional car brand, the company is now in foreign hands. Read more about the popular car brand here.

Who owns Opel? All info

Who owns Opel has changed many times throughout the company’s history. In fact, the long-established company began by manufacturing sewing machines and later bicycles before producing its first automobiles in 1899.

• Adam Opel founded a sewing machine factory in Rüsselsheim am Main in 1862 and later also manufactured bicycles. It was only after his death that his wife Sophie Marie Scheller and fűnf sons began producing cars at the end of the 19th century.

• The family business quickly found success with car production. It became one of the first producers to work with the assembly line.

• In1928 Opel had a market share of 44 percent in the German Reich, making it the largest vehicle manufacturer in the country. In the same year, the company was converted into a public limited company.

• One year later, the American automobile group General Motors acquired a full 80 percent of the company’s shares.

• After enjoying great success worldwide from the 1960s to the 1980s, Opel began to stumble in the new millennium and especially after the global economic crisis of 2008.

• After a Űberacquisition by automotive supplier Magna International fell through in 2017, the French Groupe PSA acquired the car company that same year.

• 2021, Groupe PSA merged with the US-Italian group Fiat Chrysler to form Stellantis, headquartered in Amsterdam. Stellantis also owns the brands Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Maserati and others.