The company was founded in Rsselsheim, Hesse, Germany, on January 21, 1862, by Adam Opel.

At the beginning, Opel just produced sewing machines in a cowshed in Rsselsheim. Above all, his success was based on his perfectly customized sewing machines. Because of the quick growth of his business, in 1888 the production was relocated from the cowshed to a more spacious building in Rsselsheim. Encouraged by success, Adam Opel launched a new product in 1886: He began to sell high-wheel bicycles, also known as penny-farthings. Besides, Opel's two sons participated in high-wheel bicycle races and thus promoted this means of transportation. Therefore, the production of high-wheel bicycles soon exceeded the production of sewing machines. At the time of Opel's death in 1895, he was the leader in both markets. The first cars were produced in 1899 after Opel's sons entered into a partnership with Friedrich Lutzmann, a locksmith at the court in Dessau in Saxony-Anhalt, who had been working on automobile designs for some time. These cars were not very successful and so the partnership was dissolved after two years, following which Opel's sons signed a licensing agreement in 1901 with the French Automobiles Darracq S.A. to manufacture vehicles under the brand name "Opel-Darracq". These cars were made up of Opel bodies mounted on a Darracq chassis, powered by a 2-cylinder engine. In the early 1920s, Opel became the first German car manufacturer to incorporate a mass production assembly line in the building of their automobiles. In 1924, they used their assembly line to produce a new open two-seater called the Laubfrosch. The Laubfrosch was finished exclusively in green lacquer. The car sold for an expensive 4,500 marks, (expensive considering the less expensive manufacturing process) but by the 1930s this type of vehicle would cost a mere 1,990 marks due in part to the assembly line, but also due to the skyrocketing demand for cars. Adam Opel led the way for motorized transportation to become not just a means for the rich, but a reliable way for people of all classes to travel.

1902 Opel Darracq Opel had a 37.5% market share in germany and was also the country's largest automobile exporter in 1928. The "Regent" Opel's first eight-cylinder car was offered. The RAK 1 and RAK 2 rocket-propelled cars made sensational record-breaking runs. In March 1929, General Motors (GM), impressed by Opel's modern production facilities, bought 80% of the company, increasing this to 100% in 1931. The Opel family gained $33.3 million from the transaction. Subsequently, during 1935, a second factory was built at Brandenburg for the production of "Blitz" light trucks. 1935 was also the year in which Opel became the first German car manufacturer to produce over 100,000 vehicles a year. This was based on the popular Opel "P4" model. The selling price was a mere 1,650 marks and the car had a 23 hp (17 kW) 1.1 L four-cylinder engine and

a top speed of 85 km/h (53 mph). Opel also produced the first mass-production vehicle with a self-supporting all steel body. They called it the Olympia. With its small weight and aerodynamics came an improvement in both performance and fuel consumption. Opel receives a patent which is considered one of the most important innovations in automotive history. 1939 saw the presentation of the highly successful Kapitn. With a 2.5 L six-cylinder engine, all-steel body, front independent suspension, hydraulic shock absorbers, hot-water heating (with electric blower), and central speedometer. 25,374 Kapitns left the factory before intensification of World War II brought automotive manufacturing to a temporary stop in the Autumn of 1940, by order of the government.

CAUSE
, Fritz Henderson suddenly resigned from his position as the CEO of General Motors. Henderson was ousted after a grueling two-day board meeting convened by Ed Whitacre. GMs board (now comprised of government lackies and union members) has long hated the prospect of being led by yet another GM lifer. So from the get-go Fritzs future at GM was tenuous. After the fall out, I now sort of feel sorry for Fritz Henderson simply because he was doomed to failure. Henderson became default CEO of GM after Rick Wagoners government led departure late last year. Under Hendersons tenure GM has gone through bankruptcy, the shedding of four brands and the elimination of 21,000 factory jobs and 137,330 jobs at U.S. dealerships. GMs market share has tumbled under Fritz as well. The automaker lost 2.4% of market share in the past nine months. Whitacre and the board have long been bullish on market share performance, wanting to maintain a 19.5-20% market share level for the foreseeable future. GM has also lost another $1.2 billion since exiting bankruptcy and plans to have negative cash flow for the rest of 2009. But those negative performance metrics arent the reason Henderson was canned. The decision to get rid of Fritz was one part corporate politics and two parts managerial failure. The cash burn and market share loses were expected to occur throughout 2009, what wasnt planned was the embarrassment of failed divestments. The failed attempt to transfer ownership of Saturn Distribution Corporation to Penske Automotive forced GM to scuttled the brand and once again put the automaker in the light of the news media. Soon after, GM reversed a decision to sell off Opel which angered 80 million odd Germans. Most recently, Saabs expected selloff to Koenigsegg also failed. The collapse of the Koenigsegg deal has all but sealed Saabs fait. Saab is already in bankruptcy and without financing it will stay there permanently. Opel is Why Henderson is Leaving The Opel deal is really the meat and potatoes of this schism between Henderson and Whitacre. Henderson was on the pro side of shedding Opel, Whitacre was against. Fritz Henderson, who was in charge of rightsizing GMs financing, saw Opel as a money losing unit that the automaker could do without. But the problem with the deal in Whitacre and the boards mind was that Magna and Sberbank where only offering up a measly $650 million for a division that controls nearly

10% of all European car sales. Not only that, but ripping Opel out of GM jeopardized the long term viability of the company. GM would lose about 1.5 million of unit volume and tens of billions in revenue. Most importantly, it would lose the German expertise in chassis engineering Opel is responsible for the compact and midsized platforms currently deployed on the Chevy Malibu and Chevy Cobalt. In the near future, Opel designed chassises are expected to make up the core of GMs lineup, deployed on the following vehicles: Chevy Volt, Chevy Orlando, Chevy Cruze, Chevy Malibu, Chevy Impala, Cadillac XTS, Buick Regal, Buick Lacrosse and Buicks small sedan. Not having Opel would have also reduced GMs cash flow, which invariable inhibits the speed with which they can repay the US taxpayer. Also those Opel chassis comprise the core of GMs fuel efficient vehicles. While the agreement between Magna and GM would have allowed product sharing for 5 years and would have banned Opel from America for longer GMs board couldnt lose such a valuable entity. Once Whitacre and the board undermined Hendersons decision on the Opel deal, Fritzs credibility for leading GM was reduced to zero. Since early November, marching orders have essentially been channeled through the board with Hendersons rubber stamp. As top managerial management repositioned (my guess) themselves away from Henderson it was all but certain he had to leave. Thats just the way corporate politics work. During the two-day marathon meeting with the board, Im sure Henderson fought hard for his job. Apparently, by leaving so suddenly and without informing GMs media department, the automaker suffered one last fumble under Henderson at the LA Auto Show. Henderson who was supposed to deliver a keynote address was awkwardly replaced by Bob Lutz. Now the search for a new CEO begins or so Whitacre says. GM wont find another Alan Mulally (current CEO of Ford) because of the compensation restraints placed on the automaker by accepting government bailout money. My guess is Whitacre (who is now chairman of the board, CEO and president) will be the interim CEO until GM repays its government loans. The board loves Whitacre and so does Obamas automotive task force. Whitacre successfully turned AT&T back into a corporate Goliath. Heres hoping he can do the same thing with GM.

IN INDIA
GM India will not launch the Opel brand again in India; there are lots of rumours across the internet that Insignia from Opel will be launched in India. We at Burnyourfuel.com contacted Opel Germany directly regarding Opel Insignias test mules in India; Rainer Rohrbach replied Australia is the third export market announced by Opel within recent weeks. Opel previously communicated the launch of the brand in Chile and Israel. Other markets that are under consideration include Argentina, the Middle East and an expansion in South-Africa and China. We cannot announce any plans regarding India at this point in time. I have checked with our experts the question regarding test drives. If there are any, it may probably be a local activity. The Opel/Vauxhall organization does not conduct any test drives currently, with respect to our latest export initiative. Opel was a failure in India in the past due to very low resale value and expensive spare parts. We dont believe in such rumours until Opel confirms it officially.