Stellantis has announced that the successor to the Opel/Vauxhall Grandland compact SUV will be all-electric and based on the STLA Medium platform.
The company said it will invest over $140 million (€130 million) in the Eisenach Assembly Plant in Germany to add production of the Grandland's BEV successor, which is scheduled to start rolling off the assembly line in the second half of 2024.
The factory currently produces the Grandland and Grandland GSe sporty AWD plug-in hybrid variant under the Opel and Vauxhall brands. Stellantis says that adding a BEV to Eisenach's output supports Opel's goal to have a fully electric product lineup by 2028 in Europe.
"Eisenach, our most compact plant in Germany, has demonstrated a strong drive in quality improvements. 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."
Arnaud Deboeuf, Stellantis Chief Manufacturing Officer
Stellantis did not reveal anything about the Grandland successor, which may receive a different name. The first vehicle to be launched on the STLA Medium platform will be the Peugeot e-3008 later this year. The French electric crossover will reportedly offer a choice of three powertrains – including a dual-motor AWD setup – and a maximum range of 435 miles WLTP.
Gallery: Opel Grandland GSe (2022)
The investment in Eisenach is a key step in meeting the commitments of Stellantis' Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan, which seeks to slash CO2 emissions in half by 2030 and achieve carbon net zero by 2038 with single digit percentage compensation of the remaining emissions.
The plan also sets out targets of 100 percent of passenger car sales in Europe and 50 percent of passenger car and light-duty truck sales in the United States to be BEVs by the end of the decade.
Stellantis is investing more than $32 billion (€30 billion) through 2025 in electrification and software. The company recently announced that it will build STLA Large-based EVs in the Cassino plant in central Italy from 2024. Last year, the automaker also said the plant in Windsor, Ontario will produce electric vehicles based on the STLA Large platform.
Opened in September 1992 with production of the Opel Astra, the Eisenach Assembly Plant is in the state of Thuringia, central Germany. In the 30 years of existence, the factory has built 3.7 million vehicles.
