Report: Is the 2011 Opel Ampera sold out?

2011 Opel Ampera – Click above for high-res image gallery

Back in November of 2010, General Motors began taking orders for the 2011 Opel Ampera, Europe's mechanically identical cousin of the Chevrolet Volt. The MSRP, a lofty €42,900 in Germany, ($61,123 U.S. at the current exchange rate), or $21,128 more than a 2012 Volt here in the U.S. (though not significantly higher than the Volt's European price), apparently hasn't turned off potential Ampera buyers.

According to Automobilwoche (sub. req.), some 5,000 potential buyers have plunked down €150 ($214 U.S.) to pre-order the Ampera, which means that all of the Amperas headed to Europe this year are spoken for. Well, sort of.

Officially, Opel's press release says that:

Over 5,000 potential customers have already joined the ePioneer community at Opel-Ampera.com. Opel expects Ampera sales in 2012 to reach around 10,000 units.

Those 5,000 (2,000 coming from the general public and 3,000 from corporate fleets) or so hand-raisers have nothing to lose but their meager deposits if they decide to back out. So, until sales of the Ampera begin in the fourth quarter of 2011, there's no way of knowing whether or not Opel's plug-in hybrid is actually sold out. In any case, there appears to be a supply of about 10,000 Amperas headed across the pond for 2012.



Source: Autoblog Green