Shortly after PSA bought Opel and Vauxhall, it managed to give these companies something GM didn’t achieve with them for years: profitability. With Stellantis, the idea is still to make the most of each brand’s resources and deliver stakeholders a return for their investments. That said, it would not be a surprise if Stellantis gave Opel its flagship back. According to the rendering artist Theottle, the Citroën C5 X/Peugeot 408 could help bring the Insignia back to life.
It makes a lot of sense. Stellantis follows this strategy with most of its platforms: the Opel Astra and the Peugeot 308 are closely related, as are the Opel Corsa and the Peugeot 208. The Peugeot 3008, Citroën C5 AirCross, DS 7 Crossback, and the Opel Grandland are broader examples of the strategy. If that happens with so many Stellantis products, why not with the Opel Insignia?
It would be a completely different model than the D-segment sedan we used to see at Opel dealerships. That should not surprise anyone after Mitsubishi called an SUV the Eclipse Cross, and Ford said the Maverick was a unibody pickup truck. In other words, there are more extreme precedents related to vehicle naming.
Although Theottle could have chosen either the C5 X or the 408, the Peugeot probably has a closer styling to that of a hypothetical Opel derivative, with a more angular design. Many of the styling cues come from the Astra, which Theottle merged with the Peugeot 408 with his Photoshop skills. If you are curious about the process, the video below shows every step.
Either Stellantis is already considering this new model to its lineup, or it ruled it out because of the size of this market segment. Another option is that it would make more sense as a version of the DS 9 E-Tense, another D-segment sedan. Whatever the explanation is, we may see the Insignia again. Thanks to Theottle, we know it may have more than one possibility to make a comeback.
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