General Motors’ vice chairman of global product development, Bob Lutz, has ruled out building a coupe version of the Opel/Vauxhall Vectra replacement, likely to be badged Insignia, which is due on sale in Europe in September next year.
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GM’s veteran product guru also declared that future Opel and Vauxhall lines will not be topped by a long-rumoured larger car.
Asked to comment on reports that GM sales and marketing executives had warmed to an Insignia coupe after an enthusiastic media and public response to the Geneva show GTC concept car, Lutz said: “There is no review and it is not for production.”
But he promised that the Insignia hatchback and sedan would be “pretty stunning compared to the upright and stiff looking Vectra.” He added: “Every line and all the surfaces are harmonious and generate a great deal of dynamism and thrust. It is about customers putting aesthetics ahead of practicality in the first place because they want to buy better looking cars.”
Although Renault’s Laguna coupe drew rave responses at Frankfurt, GM analysts point to the small European upper medium coupe market, with the Peugeot 407’s main claim to fame being that it outsells its larger 607 sedan sibling in non-French markets.
The coupe market is largely the domain of premium brands like BMW’s 3 Series, Mercedes’ CLK plus the newly arrived Audi A5, with Infiniti’s G37 due next year.
On the decision not to build a successor to the late Opel/Vauxhall Omega [dropped in 2002], Lutz said: “There is no plan to have an ultra-Opel, or a really expensive top of the line Opel at this time.”
Hugh Hunston
