Photo: SB-Medien
A recent report from British magazine Autoexpress draws attention to the next arrival to the European mini car coming from General Motors' twin brands. Currently, Opel and Vauxhall both sell the Agila, a car that based on Suzuki's kei car technology and is built in Hungary since 2007. But seeing how important this segment has become GM now wants to deliver a better product.
Their next city car is instead be co-developed with the new Chevy Spark. We've seen both already, undergoing winter testing under camouflage in Northern Sweden. However what we didn't know is the all-important price detail.
Autoexpress says it's talked to a Vauxhall representative who said the Agila replacement will start from £7,000 in Britain. This is throwing the gauntlet to Skoda's Citigo, currently offered for a little over £8,000.
The base model is likely to feature a new 1-liter triple petrol mill with no turbo. The mill made its debut under the name 1.0 SIDI Turbo in two power configurations available with the ADAM, Opel's other city car. Without a turbo, power should drop to somewhere around 70 hp and just under 100 Nm of torque.
The main reason why Opel wants two cars in the same segment is that they do completely different things. While the Adam is posh and comes with lots of configurations, the Agila successor will be cheap, an ideal model for people who need a second car for the family. Still, technologies like start-stop and low-friction cylinder sleeves should ensure that fuel consumption is low.
GM Europe CEO Thomas Neumann told Autoexpress that using their own platform means they can fit newly developed engines and tech faster into the car. Under the original agreement signed with PSA Peugeot Citroen, the Agila should have been akin to the new Peugeot 108/Citroen C1, just revealed at the Geneva Motor Show.
According to our information, the new Corsa is first on Opel's to-reveal list, coming late this year, which means the Spark/Agila is probably due a bit later.
Autoexpress says it's talked to a Vauxhall representative who said the Agila replacement will start from £7,000 in Britain. This is throwing the gauntlet to Skoda's Citigo, currently offered for a little over £8,000.
The base model is likely to feature a new 1-liter triple petrol mill with no turbo. The mill made its debut under the name 1.0 SIDI Turbo in two power configurations available with the ADAM, Opel's other city car. Without a turbo, power should drop to somewhere around 70 hp and just under 100 Nm of torque.
The main reason why Opel wants two cars in the same segment is that they do completely different things. While the Adam is posh and comes with lots of configurations, the Agila successor will be cheap, an ideal model for people who need a second car for the family. Still, technologies like start-stop and low-friction cylinder sleeves should ensure that fuel consumption is low.
GM Europe CEO Thomas Neumann told Autoexpress that using their own platform means they can fit newly developed engines and tech faster into the car. Under the original agreement signed with PSA Peugeot Citroen, the Agila should have been akin to the new Peugeot 108/Citroen C1, just revealed at the Geneva Motor Show.
According to our information, the new Corsa is first on Opel's to-reveal list, coming late this year, which means the Spark/Agila is probably due a bit later.
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