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Adam Opel GmbH (commonly known as Opel) is an automobile manufacturer based in Russelsheim in the Gro?-Gerau district in the Rhein-Main region of Germany. The company was founded on 21 January 1863, and began making automobiles in 1899. Opel was acquired by General Motors Corporation in 1929 and continues as a subsidiary. Opel is part of GM Europe, and is GM's largest European brand, and with Vauxhall Motors in the UK, forms GM's core European business. 
Many cars sold by General Motors worldwide are Opel designs, including such models as the Corsa, Astra, Vectra and Omega. Opel models are also sold under other GM brand names, such as Vauxhall in the UK, Holden in Australasia, Saturn in North America, and Chevrolet in Latin America. Its' Zafira people carrier was sold in Japan badged as a Subaru Traviq, while the Omega was briefly sold in the US as the Cadillac Catera. Other models sold in the US, but slightly modified, include the Saturn L-Series, Chevrolet Malibu and Cobalt. The majority of future Saturn models are expected to be either identical, like the Saturn Astra and Sky, or closely based, like the Aura and 2008 Saturn Vue, to European Opels. The Pontiac LeMans (1989-1994), which was the first car produced by Daewoo in South Korea for export to North America, were based on the Opel Kadett E (now Astra). Opels appeared under their own name in the USA from 1958 to 1975, when they were sold through Buick dealers as captive imports. The best-selling Opel models in the US were the 1964-1972 Opel Kadett, the 1971-1975 Opel Manta, and the now-classic 1968-1973 Opel GT. (The name "Opel" was also applied from 1976 to 1980 on vehicles manufactured by Isuzu (similar to the "Isuzu I-mark"), but mechanically those were entirely different cars). Opel was long General Motors' strongest marque in Japan, with sales peaking at 38,000 in 1996. However, the brand has diminished in the decade since, and will reportedly be withdrawn by the end of 2006 with just 1,800 sales there in 2005. 
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