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Auto Bild Quality Report 2006: Opel Best German Brand

4K views 28 replies 22 participants last post by  Bravada  
#1 ·
Source: http://media.gm.com/servlet/GatewayServlet?target=http://image.emerald.gm.com/gmnews/viewpressreldetail.do?domain=81&docid=22753

Auto Bild Quality Report 2006: Opel Best German Brand


* Opel already ahead of other German automakers in 2005
* Following Opel Signum success in J.D Power report, high quality again confirmed

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RĂĽsselsheim. Opel cars have the highest quality of all German brands, according to the results of the Auto Bild Quality Report 2006. Opel was already best German brand last year. The report assesses reliability, long-term quality, service, and customer satisfaction.


This confirms the positive results of other current quality surveys. The J.D Power report, surveying vehicle quality in Germany, put the Opel Signum ahead of all other German cars. The University of Bamberg identified Opel as the European brand with highest dealer satisfaction in terms of vehicle quality, and the customer satisfaction study “Car Check” in Stuttgart found Opel to have the lowest error rate of all European automakers.

“We are pleased that the efforts of our quality initiative over the last years are getting this recognition,” says Alain Visser, Executive Director, European Sales and Marketing, on the good results achieved by Opel cars. Auto Bild determines the best brands in its Quality Report using a number of channels including a representative survey of over 24,000 car owners, the TÜV report, and long-term test results.

 
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#3 ·
Is quality more a function of a vehicle's design and engineering, or of the skill of the folks who build it? If the design and engineering is most important, this is also great news for GM North America, since many of the Opel platforms will be coming here (Vectra, Astra) in the coming years. If the assembly workers' skills are most important, then this does not necessarily apply to versions of these vehicles sold in the US. Not to say that there is anything wrong with US assembly workers' skills, but just that they are not necessarily the same as workers in Germany.
 
#6 ·
GM-10 said:
Why can't I get an Astra??? That is exactly the car for me...GM builds it-but I can't get it...not fair!
Let's figure out a way to import them economically. I'd be right behind you in line. I love those little things, even though I probably don't fit in one! :)
 
#8 ·
69Firebird400 said:
Let's figure out a way to import them economically. I'd be right behind you in line. I love those little things, even though I probably don't fit in one! :)

Well...that depends how tall you are...

I mean, I am 6'1 (1.85m) and 176 pounds (80 Kg).

I can fit easily inside the new Astra.

Although, the back seat in the SportHatch version (the Coupé look-a-like 3-door model) is rather cramped for people over 6'0 tall.
 
#9 ·
Kowalski said:
Well...that depends how tall you are...

I mean, I am 6'1 (1.85m) and 176 pounds (80 Kg).

I can fit easily inside the new Astra.

Although, the back seat in the SportHatch version (the Coupé look-a-like 3-door model) is rather cramped for people over 6'0 tall.
I'm just under 6'4" and just over 180 pounds. Not that it makes a difference, since I will probably never drive one and almost certainly never own one, but I think I like the SportHatch most. The crazy elongated windshield thing is so great too. :)
 
#11 ·
What a turnaround for Opel.
I can remember reading, and it wasn't too long ago, that analysts said that Opel offered nothing compelling or competitive.
And to think that now MB is perceived by many to be unreliable.
How quickly things change.
 
#14 ·
69Firebird400 said:
Is quality more a function of a vehicle's design and engineering, or of the skill of the folks who build it?
A bit of each. If a piece is designed sloppily so that it has a tendency to squeak or rattle, no matter how well it may be installed, that isn't the builder's fault. However, if a piece is designed well, but is not installed correctly, it isn't the designer's fault. Maximum quality can only be achieved when parts are both designed and assembled correctly.
 
#17 ·
Having the new GT imported from the US couldn't hurt either. Currently, US automakers are performing better in quality surveys then the Germans. I see Opel's future being extremely bright. On top of that, they'll be made in some form or another in every part of the world by the end of the decade. VW must be soooo scared right now.
 
#23 ·
I would still buy the Astra! Heck a Audi A3 which I like starts at 25K so GM could still under cut it! i DON'T SEE AND ISSUE AND HERE IN THE us THEy WOULD SELL THE BASE WITH THE 2.4 NOT THE eURO 1.8. sORRY HIT THE CAps by mistake.
 
#24 ·
DmitryKo said:
Opel Astra GTC eith 1.8 L Ecotec starts at Euro 18010 or US $21600.

http://www.opel.de/shop/cars/astra/product/price/content.act

Do you agree to pay this price?
Wait, that price includes taxes. Without the taxes the price is close to 15500 Euros. Also, that is not a base model Astra.

A well equipped Mazda 3 or Honda Civic here goes for around $20k, which is not dramatically higher. In the US, in the compact car class, the class leaders (not the Cobalt) sell for about the same as that mid-level Astra sans VAT.
 
#26 ·
uujjj said:
Wait, that price includes taxes. Without the taxes the price is close to 15500 Euros. Also, that is not a base model Astra.

A well equipped Mazda 3 or Honda Civic here goes for around $20k, which is not dramatically higher. In the US, in the compact car class, the class leaders (not the Cobalt) sell for about the same as that mid-level Astra sans VAT.
In Australia, the Astra (1.8 l manual) starts around AUS$20,000. The Brits pay something like AUS$35,000 (14,000 pounds). The rest of Europe is similarly high (taxes I guess). The Mazda 3 and Honda Civic are in the same ballpark here. A well equiped version of any of these would be around AUS$25,000, close to US$20,000.
 
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