The Opel Grandland, a compact SUV from Opel also available as PHEV, will be succeeded by a fully electric model next year. Parent company Stellantis is investing € 130 million in the German plant in Eisenach to prepare it for the production of the e-SUV based on the new STLA Medium EV platform of the group.

The new Grandland will be electric-only. Stellantis expects the production of the new BEV to start in the second half of 2024. The current Opel Grandland produced in Eisenach includes plug-in hybrid variants, and the top model Grandland GSe also comes from Thuringia. In 2021, the Eisenach plant was closed for several months due to semiconductor shortages. The factory employs some 1 300 people. Since its opening in 1992, it has produced some 3,7 million vehicles.

New dedicated platform

The generation offered since 2017 is built on the EMP2 platform from PSA at the time. With a length of 4,48 meters, the Grandland belongs to the mid-size class. Also based on the EMP2 are, for example, the Peugeot models 3008 and 5008, which are also to receive electric successors, as with the Opel based on the STLA Medium EV platform.

Other EMP2 models, such as the Opel Astra and Peugeot 308, must (currently) make do with an electrified version of the mixed platform.

The planned production capacities or vehicle details have not yet been made public. Stellantis promised ranges of up to 700 kilometers for the Peugeot e-3008, whose current generation is the same size as the Opel Grandland. Three electric powertrains are planned, including a four-wheel drive system with two motors. It’s logical that the same technology will be used for the Opel sister model.

The STLA Medium EV platform is designed for vehicles in the C and D segments. The Grandland/e-3008 duo is in the C-segment, while the larger e-5008 model is more positioned in the D-segment. Whether the Grandland and e-3008 will move far away from the current dimensions is unprobable. With the all-electric platform, the wheelbase will likely increase by 10 to 20 centimeters from the current 2,68 meters.

“We have been building top-quality vehicles here in Thuringia for 31 years and improved our competitiveness continuously,” says Florian Hüttl, Opel’s CEO. “We will stay on this clear path with the electric successor to the Opel Grandland. For Opel, this decision is another important step on the way to the declared goal of being a purely electric brand in Europe by 2028.”

Greener, leaner, cheaper

The Stellantis group itself emphasized its strategic concept by saying that quality must go up and costs must come down. “Eisenach, our most compact plant in Germany, has demonstrated a strong drive in quality improvements,” says Arnaud Deboeuf, Stellantis’ chief manufacturing officer. “With this allocation of Stellantis’ new fully BEV platform, STLA Medium, Eisenach plant’s highly skilled workforce will continue to improve the cost and the quality of the vehicles they produce to delight our customers.”

“The Eisenach investment is a key step in meeting the commitments of the Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan, which is led by deep emission cuts to slash CO2 in half by 2030, benchmarking 2021 metrics, and achieve carbon net zero by 2038 with single-digit percentage compensation of the remaining emissions,” the Stellantis press release concludes.