Opel '09 German sales rise 31% on incentives, Insignia

General Motors Co.'s Opel unit sold 31 percent more cars in Germany in 2009, reaching a four-year high, as the government's "cash-for-clunkers" incentive and introduction of the Insignia sedan boosted demand.

Opel sold about 339,000 vehicles in its home market compared with 258,274 deliveries a year earlier, the Ruesselsheim, Germany-based manufacturer said today in a statement.

Germany offered consumers 2,500 euros ($3,600) in early 2009 to trade in models at least nine years old for scrapping when they bought new cars. Opel sales may slump by about 90,000 vehicles, or 27 percent, in 2010 because of the end of the government program, said Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg- Essen.

"The 'cash-for-clunkers' incentive is the major reason" for Opel's sales growth this year, followed "a little bit by the Insignia," Dudenhoeffer said.

The mid-sized Insignia went on sale in November 2008. GM decided in November this year against selling Opel to a team led by Magna International Inc., citing the brand's strategic importance.

Opel had a German market share of 8.9 percent this year, the company said, without giving a year-earlier figure. The brand accounted for 8.4 percent of Germany's car sales in 2008, according to the Federal Motor Vehicle Office.

GM is seeking 2.7 billion euros in reorganization financing from European Union countries where Opel and its U.K. sister brand Vauxhall have factories, with the Detroit carmaker providing another 600 million euros.