Reuters (Frankfurt) - GM's loss-making European brand Opel is confident it can gain market share going forward thanks to new models like the Korean-built Mokka subcompact SUV, Opel chief Karl-Friedrich Stracke told reporters on Thursday.
He also said that the brand enjoyed a strong April relative to recent months, but conceded that the overall market would not likely see meaningful growth for the next two years.
"Next year will be pretty flat, and we will see whether the recovery starts in 2014, '15 and '16," he said.
According to industry data from the ACEA, Opel's share of the European market dropped to 6.6 percent in the first quarter from 7.3 percent in the previous year.
Stracke said there was a continued "high urgency" concerning the ongoing restructuring talks with European labour leaders, expecting it would take another two or three more months before they were concluded.
"We are not addressing any plant closures before 2014," he added, referring to speculation that the Bochum and Ellesmere Port factories could be shuttered.
