FRANKFURT -- Two Opel plants in Germany will get new models as promised, securing their midterm future following PSA Group's acquisition of the automaker from General Motors.
Opel also committed to produce Buick-branded vehicles for GM in its German factories beyond 2019.
Opel will build a large SUV at its home factory in Ruesselsheim near Frankfurt, starting in 2020, the company said in a release on Thursday. Opel's plant in Eisenach, eastern Germany, will produce a successor to the Mokka X subcompact SUV starting in 2019.
"Investments are also confirmed for exports of sister products for another GM brand from these plants," the statement said.
On Tuesday, GM unveiled the sixth-generation Buick Regal -- which will be sold in the U.S. in four-door hatchback and wagon variants -- and said the models will be built by Opel in Ruesselsheim. The Regal shares its underpinnings with the Insignia midsize model.
GM agreed to sell Opel to PSA last month, forcing it to start unwinding a product strategy which for years aligned Buick and Opel's platforms and cars. A briefing held for Opel workers in Ruesselsheim on Thursday said PSA will be locked into producing vehicles based on GM platforms for a number of years.
PSA's agreement to buy Opel and its UK Vauxhall business from GM for 2.2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) led to union fears that German factories could be axed as the combined PSA-Opel moved to reduce excess capacity.
