Detroit might build
Opel Zafira for European market
Automotive News Europe
November 5, 2007 -- 13:51 CET
Photo added by
old.saturnseries.net - current Opel Zafira
General Motors might build the next generation of the Opel Zafira in
the US and export it to Europe.
"Exporting this model to Europe has not been ruled out," Klaus
Franz, the head of Opel's workers’ council, said to Automotive News
Europe’s sister publication Automobilwoche.
At the moment, GM plans to build a Chevrolet minivan that is only
marginally different from the Zafira in Detroit beginning in the
second quarter of 2009.
There is also a Saturn model, based on the Zafira platform
code-named Global Delta MPV7, in planning.
The continued weakness of the US dollar makes producing the Zafira
in the US attractive.
"At the moment, it's still an unlikely scenario, but the pressure on
the European factories is growing," Franz said.
The Zafira is currently produced in Bochum, Germany, and Gliwice,
Poland. GM also exports a
variation of the Opel Astra to the US for sale as a Saturn.
needed to offer a fuel-efficient model in the US quickly despite the
exchange rate.
