Opel is re-inventing its iconic GSE badge for a new era of sporty electric models.
I thought GSE was for hot-hatches?
It was, originally. GSE first appeared in 1970 not on a hot-hatch but on the big Opel Commodore saloon and coupe, badged as GS/E. Back then, the letters stood for Grand Sport Einspritzung, that being the German word for 'injection' so it's essentially Germanic GTI.
The badge was also used on the fabulous Opel Monza Coupe and on the Manta, but perhaps most famously it was used in the eighties for the hot versions of the Opel Astra hatch, which while they may not be quite as famous as their Ford, Peugeot, and VW rivals, are still fantastically fun hot-hatches.
What's changing now?
Well, the Grand Sport Einspritzung nomenclature changed in 2022, when Opel introduced a sporty, plug-in hybrid version of the current Astra hatchback badged as GSe, but in this case the e stood for electric. There was a plug-in hybrid Grandland GSe too.
Now, though, GSE is being given a makeover and a new purpose. There's a new version of the badge, featuring the E picked out in Opel's high-performance bright yellow colour, and from now on it will be used for Opel's new high-performance fully-electric models.
Florian Huettl, Opel CEO, teased: “The GSE sub-brand stands for particularly dynamic, exhilarating, and emotional Opel models. 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.
“GSE are three letters that are enough to send pulses racing. G stands for Grand; German engineering meets goosebumps, great grip and G-forces. S stands for Sport; speed, sweat and sliding through S-curves. E stands for Electric; excitement, exhilaration and euphoria. And Opel promises there will be more this year. So better not blink or miss all the fun! Because everyone who drives a new battery-electric GSE model will experience the proverbial OMG feeling - full of excitement and adrenaline!”
What new models will get the GSE treatment?
Opel hasn't confirmed that yet, but we'd be surprised if they didn't include the new Grandland SUV (a 325hp four-wheel drive two-motor EV setup is sitting there on the Stellantis Group parts shelves) and the Astra itself. Beyond that, Opel has long been promising a revival of the Manta name for a sleek all-electric four-door crossover, and we'd eat our collective hats if that doesn't get a GSE badge.
These GSE models will also get unique styling touches, and according to Opel will have: “a chassis set-up that directly integrates the driver and offers exciting driving pleasure” as well as being “designed to be stable when braking, cornering and at high speeds on the Autobahn.”
While we wait to see the first fruits of GSE's new electric labours, Opel has shown a video, kicking off its 'OMG! GSE' campaign, and showing brief glimpses of what appear to be both a Grandland and an Astra, one of which (it's hard to see precisely which) seems to have a rally-car-style ventilation flap in the roof. There's also a shot of a passenger smiling and laughing as the car she's in is thrown around a race track - that car appears, possibly, to be a car with a low roofline and a distinctly swept-up line to the rear side glass, but it's possible that this is just something used for filming, and not actually related to any production models.