Mr. Hochschurtz, you had a dream debut at Opel with the presentation of the new Astra.

Have you settled into this position, which is new to you in every respect?

Thorsten Winter

Business editor and internet coordinator in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

  • Follow I follow

The debut on September 1st was indeed terrific.

We presented the all-new Astra to the international press.

When it comes to new technology, we offer almost everything in the car.

And from 2023 there will also be a fully electric Astra.

We already offer the plug-in hybrid, as well as diesel and petrol engines.

I was just in production here in Rüsselsheim.

The vehicles are already rolling off the production line, and they are of very good quality.

Has the pre-series been completed and series production started?

The start of production is in full swing.

We're looking at it very closely.

Around 500 Astra have already rolled off the assembly line.

We already have a large number of orders in the order books.

Business is going very well, especially since we cover the most popular body variants in this class with the five-door and the Sports Tourer, i.e. the station wagon.

Demand is also generally high in Germany, where we have been able to increase our market share for 16 months in a row.

In 2021 as a whole, we were the biggest winner among all volume brands in Germany.

How many orders for the Astra has Opel already received?

It's a little more than we thought.

We are also considering using more gas in the factory – or electricity.

But for competitive reasons we don't give out precise numbers.

We will sell the car well and are aiming to further increase our market share in Germany from 6.1 percent recently.

Like the Corsa, the Astra accounts for about a quarter of Opel sales.

The small car came in January to a good 4100 new registrations.

Does that amount to a similar number for the Astra?

The sales figures for our Corsa prove that we are one of the most powerful car manufacturers in Germany.

The Corsa was the best-selling car nationwide in November across all segments - with a high proportion of electric vehicles.

The Corsa has also been the best-selling small car for two years.

Do you think you are well on the way to being on the top of the podium in the compact car segment with the new Astra?

The cards are redistributed in the different segments.

We are in the transition from the old age of combustion engines to electric cars.

This will also win the hearts of many new customers who have never driven an Opel before.

The fact that we offer our cars in electric variants also has a major advantage for existing customers: They don't have to switch to a different model, but can take the car they are familiar with, just with an electric drive.

Incidentally, we already offer nine electrified models.

In 2024 we will offer an electric version for every model and by 2028 we will only have battery-electric new vehicles in Europe.

The Germany boss of Stellantis told us at the beginning of the year that he wanted to be on the podium in the respective class with the new Opel models.

Can you live with this requirement?

We always like to see success.

And Opel is a winning brand again.

Above all, I want satisfied customers.

I want our customers to choose our cars because they are emotionally attracted to them and find the right technology at the right price.

The most important reason to buy is satisfaction with the previous model.

But yes: I agree with this goal.

And our chances will increase if the proportion of electronics continues to grow.

Let's stick to this topic.

The Stellantis colleague said that Opel had to get to market level as quickly as possible when it came to the electric part.

The market is at 35 percent - Opel recently came to 15 percent.

By when will you close the gap, especially since you are likely to cover more than half of Opel's sales with the Corsa-e, Mokka-e and Astra-e?