Opel Halts Operations in Australia

General Motors Co. is ending sales of its Opel brand in Australia and dismantling its dealer network there after less than a year in the market and sales of only 1,500 vehicles.

Opel launched operations in Australia last September. It had hoped to partly offset a sales slump in Europe, where demand for Opel/Vauxhall brands in the first half of 2013 was 7% below the same period last year.

But Opel didn't gain traction in Australia, a market where inexpensive Japanese and Korean imports are decimating the country's local production base. Bloomberg News notes that imported Opels were priced higher than cars made by Holden, GM's struggling local Australian brand.

Car sales in Australia rose 5% in the first seven months of the year. But demand for of domestically produced vehicles, which account for less than 10% of the market, plunged 21%.