TOKYO – General Motors will stop selling its Opel brand in Japan by the end of the year.
A decade ago, Opel was GM’s top-selling brand in Japan. That is no longer true.
In the first quarter of this year, Opel’s sales fell 46.9 percent from a year earlier to 382.
Opel’s sales in Japan peaked at about 38,000 in 1996.
In 2005, sales rose 6.3 percent to 1,800.
GM says it is pulling Opel cars from Japan because of weak sales due to the yen-euro rate. It says it will focus on its “global brands” of Cadillac, Chevrolet, Hummer and Saab in Japan.
You may e-mail James B. Treece at [email protected]
