Opel moves engineering work to China and teases new electric SUV

The German car brand Opel is making some serious changes. The company used to be known for its German engineering but now, that is changing. Opel announced it will cut 650 engineering jobs at its main office in Russelsheim, Germany. As those jobs go away, the company is getting ready to launch a new SUV. The new model will use parts and technology from a Chinese company Leapmotor. It seems the future of electric Opels will be a mix of German style and Chinese hardware.

The new SUV does not have a name yet. Opel plans to put it on sale by the year 2028. The company says the car will be a "compact SUV" - a medium-sized vehicle that sits higher off the ground. Even though the "guts" of the car come from China, Opel's designers in Germany are making sure it will look like an Opel. It will have the "Opel Vizor" front end, which looks like a smooth black mask with LED lights. The car is expected to look sporty with large wheels and very short ends.

Stellantis is the automotive giant that owns Opel. They recently bought a 21% stake in Leapmotor, giving them the right to build and sell Leapmotor technology outside of China. By using a Chinese platform, Opel can create new EVs much faster and much cheaper. Usually, it takes many years to design a new car from scratch, and this new SUV is being developed in less than two years.

We do not know every detail about the new Opel, but we can look at its cousin, the Leapmotor B10, since the new Opel will likely be very similar to that car. The B10 is 177.8 inches long, suggesting the new SUV will fit right between the smaller Frontera and the larger Grandland. It will be designed to be a practical family car that does not take up too much space on the road.

The Leapmotor B10 uses a single motor that makes 160 kW, which is about 215 hp, and it comes with two different battery sizes - 56.2 kWh and 67.1 kWh. With the bigger battery, the car can travel about 270 miles on a single charge. If you are worried about running out of power, there will be a version with a "range extender" that uses a small gas engine to charge the battery while you drive, allowing the car to go up to 559 miles.

Price is a big deal for people buying EVs today. Many electric cars are very expensive, but Opel wants this new SUV to be "accessible." The Leapmotor B10 starts at $35,000 in Europe. This price is lower than many of its rivals, like the Skoda Elroq. By using Chinese parts, Opel hopes to keep the price of the new SUV low so more people can buy it.

Unfortunately, these low prices come with a cost for workers in Germany. The engineering center in Russelsheim used to be a very busy place. In 2017, there were over 7,700 engineers working there. After the latest round of cuts, only about 1,000 members of staff will be left. These remaining workers will focus on things like artificial intelligence and lighting systems. The heavy lifting of designing the car's frame and battery is moving toward "international teams" in China. It is a bit ironic that a brand famous for "German Engineering" is now doing so much of its work elsewhere.

The new SUV will not be built in Germany, either. Production will happen at a factory in Zaragoza, Spain. This factory already builds other small electric cars like the Opel Corsa and the Peugeot e-208. The Leapmotor B10 will also be built at this same Spanish plant. Sharing a factory helps the company save a lot of money since they can use the same machines and workers to build different types of cars at the same time.

This new partnership with Leapmotor is just the beginning, and Stellantis says this new SUV is a "blueprint" for the future - this means they plan to make more cars this way. Leapmotor is already doing well in Europe. They sold 40,000 cars in 2025. In the first three months of 2026, they already sold nearly 25,000 cars.

The car market is shifting fast. For Opel, staying alive means making difficult choices. They are trading some of their German engineering heritage for Chinese speed and lower costs. By 2028, we will see if this plan works when the new SUV hits the streets. It will be a car designed in Germany, powered by Chinese tech, and built in Spain.

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