GM-Opel gaining market share
General Motors-Opel could increase its market share here up to 13.5% over the next two years, analysts said. The U.S.-German auto manufacturer garnered 9.5% of the nation's car market with total new car sales reaching 60,000 last year, up from 8.2% in 1998. Analysts forecast an 11% share this year.
Although Daewoo and Fiat will retain leadership, Fiat is forecast to lose market share from 25.4% this year to 22.2% in 2001 and Daewoo from 23% this year to 22.5% in 2001, said Tim Armstrong, a senior associate in the global automotive research group with Standard & Poor's/DRI. Opel's gain is due to expansion of its retail network and product line of smaller cars, industry watchers said. "Opel is providing a different image," said Wojciech Drzewiecki, head of automotive research group Samar.
A threat to sales, however, are high interest rates. Last November the National Bank of Poland (NBP) boosted benchmark rates by 2.5-3.5%; to 19% for the discount rate and 20.5% for the Lombard. The move was intended to curb the credit market. With up to half of new auto sales financed through loans, the threat is real, analyst and industry executives said. "We are going to look really, really hard at the first quarter," said Warren Browne, general director for General Motors Poland. The first quarter could set the balance for the year, he added.
