Opel plans city car tie-up

Opel could be set to launch a new city car under new owners Magna to compete in Europe’s booming A-segment, according to the firm’s head of sales and marketing.

Alain Visser said the firm would need to build in the car in partnership with another manufacturer to see a return on its investment due to the competitiveness of the market.

Opel currently has a similar deal in place with Suzuki to build its Agila alongside the Splash and Visser said similar future deals were possible.

“This is the most difficult segment in the market to make money, so it's where many automakers join forces,” he said. He added that Opel would be willing to talk to other manufacturers, but didn’t confirm whether any talks had taken place.

Manufacturer tie-ups are common in the A-segment. Joint ventures include Peugeot/Citroen/Toyota building the 107/C1/Aygo and Ford/Fiat building the Ka/500.

The new car would be smaller than the current Agila and the firm’s Trixx 3+1 concept from Geneva 2004 hints at the styling of a future model.

Last month Opel chairman Carl-Peter Forster said the firm would be looking to launch a new A-segment car under Magna.

“We could start production of a minicar in 2012,” he said, adding that magna had already set aside 250 million euro (£235m) for the project. He also said an all-electric version was probable, with Magna likely to pay for the development of electric drivetrain.

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