VIENNA – Adam Opel GmbH is considering a revival of the Wartburg brand, as it continues to sort out an uncertain future that could include a sale of the German subsidiary by struggling parent General Motors Corp.
Opel confirms the idea for a Wartburg comeback, but a spokesman tells Ward’s “it is only one of several options for the Eisenach (Germany) plant.”
Similar to Renault SA’s Dacia Logan budget car, Opel is considering the production of a Wartburg-badged low-cost model based on the Opel Corsa small car.
The Wartburg potentially would have a base price of about E7,000 ($9,400) in Germany.
Wartburg-badged cars were manufactured in the years 1898 to 1903 and 1956 to 1991 in the German city of Eisenach.
In communist East Germany, Wartburg maker VEB Automobilwerk Eisenach was one of the country’s two car plants, along with the Trabant factory, VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau, in Zwickau.
In 1991, the Wartburg plant closed. Opel launched production at its new factory in Eisenach the following year.
Currently, the Opel Eisenach GmbH plant builds the Corsa with about 1,800 employees. It produced 156,972 cars last year, down 13.7% from 2007.
