Automotive giant Stellantis announced it will invest over €130 million in the Eisenach Assembly Plant in Germany, producer of the Opel Grandland compact SUV, to add production of the BEV successor vehicle that will be built on the all-new STLA Medium platform. Production of the new BEV is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2024.
Adding a BEV to Eisenach’s output supports Opel’s bold commitment to a fully electric product lineup by 2028 in Europe. The Opel Grandland currently produced at Eisenach includes also plug-in hybrid variants.
“Eisenach, our most compact plant in Germany, has demonstrated a strong drive in quality improvements,” said Arnaud Deboeuf, Stellantis Chief Manufacturing Officer. “With this allocation of Stellantis’ new fully BEV platform, STLA Medium, Eisenach plant’s highly skilled workforce will continue to improve the cost and the quality of the vehicles they produce to delight our customers.”
“We have been building top-quality vehicles here in Thuringia for 31 years and improved our competitiveness continuously. We will stay on this clear path with the electric successor to the Opel Grandland,” said Florian Huettl, Opel CEO. “This decision is another important step for Opel on the way to the declared goal of being a purely electric brand in Europe by 2028.”
“At Stellantis, ‘We Win Together’ is a core value and this announcement for Eisenach demonstrates that value in action,” said Xavier Chereau, Chairman of the Opel Supervisory Board and Chief Human Resources & Transformation Officer at Stellantis. “A focus on improving quality and costs from Eisenach management and employees, combined with the input and social dialogue with the German union representatives, help define the future.”
“Thuringia is an automotive location with a great tradition that is currently making the transition to electromobility at top speed,” Thuringia Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow said. “Against this background, I am particularly pleased that Opel is playing a decisive role here and will be producing a future-proof model range in Eisenach.”
Opened in September 1992 with production of the Opel Astra, the Eisenach Assembly Plant is in the state of Thuringia, central Germany. In 2022 the plant celebrated its 30th anniversary with an Open Day event that commemorated production of 3.7 million vehicles.
The Eisenach investment is a key step in meeting the commitments of the Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan, which is led by deep emission cuts to slash CO2 in half by 2030, benchmarking 2021 metrics, and achieve carbon net zero by 2038 with single digit percentage compensation of the remaining emissions. Core targets for Dare Forward 2030 also include 100% of passenger car sales in Europe and 50% of passenger car and light-duty truck sales in the United States to be BEVs by the end of the decade; the ambition of doubling Net Revenues by 2030 (versus 2021) and sustaining double-digit Adjusted Operating Income margins throughout the decade; and the aim to become number one in customer satisfaction for products and services in every market by 2030.
Stellantis is investing more than €30 billion through 2025 in electrification and software to deliver BEVs that meet customer demands.
The Opel Grandland from Eisenach has made a name for itself in the compact SUV segment. Sporty and elegant, intuitive to operable and equipped with innovative technologies, it inspires customers. With the fully digital Pure Panel, it offers a new kind of cockpit experience. In addition, the Grandland is equipped with further top technologies and assistance systems that customers have previously only been familiar with from higher vehicle classes. First and foremost is the adaptive IntelliLux LED® Pixel light with a total of 168 LED elements. There is also Night Vision: the system that detects pedestrians and animals in the dark at a distance of up to 100 meters and actively warns the driver. The Opel SUV proudly wears the new face of the brand – the Opel Vizor. Customers have a choice of highly efficient combustion engine and plug-in hybrid variants. The top model is the sporty Opel Grandland GSe with electric all-wheel drive.
