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Spurred on by the success of the Volkswagen Up! and Ford Ka, Vauxhall (and presumably Opel) will market a city car slotting below the Adam.
Based on the next-generation Chevrolet Spark, the Vauxhall will wear the Viva nameplate, which was last used in 1979. According to Auto Express, the Opel variant will use a different name, which would be a rare departure from the typical Opel/Vauxhall arrangement. Power is said to come from GM’s new small engine family, likely a 1.0L 3-cylinder unit. Like the Spark, the Viva would be built in South Korea. Hopefully the handsome styling carries over to our side of the pond.
28 Comments on “Viva Vauxhall! British Brand Adds Spark To Its Lineup...”
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I hope this spells the end of the Ridiculously Large Headlamp Era.
My goodness, that is so much more attractive than the Spark.
A performance version of that would probably do pretty well.
It really is much more attractive. I am glad I am not the only one who thought so.
More attractive or simply less hideous? You make the call.
They can call the Opel version “Bounty.”
Cause errbody knows Viva is a [superior] paper towel.
But Bounty is The Quicker Picker Upper.
In fact, it’s now The Thicker Quicker Picker Upper.
Where have the Quilteds gone?
Into Depends. Boomers, you know.
LOL
I actually like the Sonic better (especially the sides and rear). But I think the front-end on the Sonic is awkward at best, terrible at worst.
It’s funny how US car blogs usually focus on the tiny sub-brand Vauxhall when talking about Opel. Is it the ‘special relationship’ or the fact that Vauxhall press releases are printed in English?.
Opel and Vauxhall sold slightly over a million cars in 2013, the Vauxhall share however was below 300,000.
Probably both explanations. Also the UK market is more receptive to hot hatches which auto enthusiasts like and hence a gravitation to the UK market compared to say Belgium’s!
Vauxhall’s share was pretty large when you consider that the UK’s population is around 10% of the EU’s.
There may be a Spark in my future if the next generation comes to america. Looks downright attractive, at least when compared to the bug eyed current gen.
I had a Spark as a rental car in Quebec yesterday and drove about 180 km in it. It was a reasonably decent car, which surprised me.
Was it ehh.. how do you say, zee interesting Franche Quebecoise colours?
LOL
Red with grey/silver interior. It actually looked not too bad, if you can get past the headlight housings that are bigger than the fenders!
I never can. And the sedan is worse.
New SIARPC?
“We got ourselves a Chevy!”
BIG improvement over the current Spark.
What is really left of Vauxhall? Is there anything going on there, other than marketing and badge engineering?
Nope, not since what – the early or mid 90s?
That coupe they had, the C____ something was good looking. Calibra! That’s it.
Ah yes, the Opel Calibra was a fancy coupé version of the Opel Vectra; and like its four-door sibling, it was also sold with Vauxhall badges.
They can have Coldplay do the ad for this over in the UK and use their song from 08.
“Viva La Vida?” Lol…didn’t Apple use that one in a iTunes commercial circa ’08?
I was out of the country at the time, so I am not aware! But if they did, then Vauxhall shouldn’t use it.
That’s the biggest improvement in design….
With a much less ugly front end than the US version.
Does it still have the stupid ‘motorcycle inspired’ instrument panel?