Rüsselsheim isn’t just where Opel builds cars. It’s where the brand forges the people who will one day design, engineer, and assemble them. This week, the German automaker marked a milestone that wasn’t about a new electric SUV or a performance concept, but about something more fundamental: people. 149 of them, to be exact.
At Opel’s headquarters in Rüsselsheim, the company hosted a festive welcome for its incoming class of apprentices—a tradition that stretches back more than 160 years to Adam Opel himself. Out of the 149, one hundred will train at Rüsselsheim, 30 at Kaiserslautern, 12 at Eisenach, and 7 in Bochum. They’ll pursue careers across technical, commercial, and IT fields, as well as dual study programmes that blend academic learning with on-the-job training.
Opel’s program is no afterthought. The company was recently crowned Training Champion 2025 by the F.A.Z. Institute and ServiceValue, taking top honors among automakers in both classical apprenticeships and dual study formats. That’s no small feat in Germany, where vocational training is serious business. Since Opel’s founding, more than 27,000 young professionals have launched careers through its doors.
“Sound training is the key to professional success,” Opel HR boss Ralph Wangemann said during the ceremony. “We offer both modern learning conditions and a wide range of career prospects. The fact that Opel has twice been named ‘Training Champion 2025’ is a recognition of the great commitment of our entire team.”
But this isn’t just about nostalgia or titles. Opel’s curriculum is shifting to match the automotive industry’s new reality. Apprenticeships in automotive mechatronics, applied computer science, and new cooperative programs in engineering show a clear tilt toward electrification and digitalization—the skills the next Opel generation will need.
It’s easy to overlook ceremonies like this amid headlines about EV platforms and battery factories. But Opel’s investment in training is as much about the company’s future as its latest model lineup. After all, without the next generation of skilled engineers, coders, and technicians, there won’t be anyone to build those cars in the first place.
Source: Stellantis