Opel and Ford, how the mighty have fallen

摘要

This is the tale of a once market-dominating offshoot of a once mighty and powerful US parent that blazed a trail for affordable value-for-money motoring in Europe and then squandered its long-enjoyed mass-market domination. It serves as a powerful and timely reminder of the potentially life-threatening risks of underestimating competition and failing to anticipate seismic product shifts in their sector. That's the harsh verdict of both Opel's and Ford's unenviable European fortunes. Today, after years of slipping and sliding, both US offshoots are just a pale shadow of their former selves. And yet, finally, there appears hope that for GM's long-struggling European Opel offshoot the worst may finally be over Judged by today's competitive picture, the mere idea that Opel, GM's European offshoot, still ranked as West Europe's leading carmaker, comfortably outselling its Volkswagen compatriot in the region's passenger car market for well over a decade, seems far-fetched. And yet, it was not that long ago that not only US-owned Opel, but Ford no less, still stood ahead of Volkswagen at or near the top of Europe's car sales league. After capturing their highest-ever respective West European car sales shares of 12.6 and 12.8 per cent in 1993 and 1984, both Opel and Ford have progressively lost their formerly tight held grip on the scene. However, history shows that this significant loss of market share was only partly self-inflicted. However, both carmakers stand accused of failing to react in time and vigour to the fast evolving change in the type of car wanted by European new car buyers.