Opel to revive sporty GSE badge, but not as you might remember it

THE GSE badge is well known to Opel fans of a certain era, and now it’s making a comeback in fully-electric guise.

South Africans will know the badge from the Kadett E of the late 1980s, where it formed a sportier midrange alternative to the bare-bones Cub. 

Overseas the badge made an appearance on Commodore and Monza models in the 1970s, where it stood for “Grand Sport Einspritzung”, with the ‘E’ denoting fuel injection.

While it was revived for plug-in hybrid versions of the latest Astra in 2022, 2025 will see GSE becoming a sub-brand for fully electric models.

GS still stands for ‘Gran Sport’ and no prizes for guessing what the ‘E’ stands for in the modern context.

““The GSE sub-brand stands for particularly dynamic, exhilarating, and emotional Opel models,” said the brand’s CEO Florian Huettl.

“In 2025, we will take the next important step. The new GSE models will be fully electric. This demonstrates how powerful, exciting, and inspiring battery-electric mobility can be."

It remains to be seen whether the badge will adorn high-performance models, but Opel has hinted that the GSE models will have model-specific chassis tuning that “directly integrates the driver and offers exciting driving pleasure.”

The new sub-brand comes at the correct time as Opel currently offers numerous vehicles with fully-electric powertrains, including the Corsa-e, Mokka-e, Frontera E, Grandland Electric, Combo-e and Zafire-e Life.

Opel is aiming to become a fully electric brand in Europe by 2028, although combustion models are still expected to be offered in other markets.