For the past few years, General Motors executives have fought a valiant battle in Europe on Opel’s behalf: insisting that the brand was a premium marque above mainstream Chevrolet, while fending off persistent rumors of Opel’s sale or demise.

That battle is over. Opel is back to being GM’s mainstream brand in Europe with the decision late last year to remove Chevrolet from the market, and Opel has the full backing of GM’s new leadership. Now comes the hard part: revitalizing a faded brand that had lost market share for 14 straight years, before a slight uptick last year.