Last Friday (24 June), General Motors ended production of the second generation Vectra (the European previous generation) in Brazil. Now, the carmaker has revealed the first details and a photo of the sedan that will replace the ended model, writes Rogerio Louro.
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The new car will be named “New Vectra” and will be launched in the Brazilian market in October. But, despite the name, the new car is not the current generation of the European Vectra (the third generation).
The Brazilian car uses the stretched platform of the Brazilian-made Astra (the previous generation of the European Astra) to reduce production costs. GM of Brazil has not revealed the dimensions of the model.
The design of the “New Vectra” is exclusive, undertaken by the GM Design Center in Brazil.
For the Brazilian market, the new car will be equipped with two versions of the ‘flex-fuel’ engines, that can run on petrol, alcohol or the blend of the two. One engine is the 2.0-litre 8-valve engine that is used in the Brazilian-made Astra and Zafira ranges. The model also will receive a new 2.4-litre 16-valve engine.
New Vectra will also be exported to others Latin America countries with petrol engines.
GM is investing about $US 190 million to introduce the “New Vectra” that will be produced in the automaker’s São Caetano do Sul plant, in São Paulo state.
With the name “New Vectra” GM expects to use the charisma of the Vectra name in Brazil to boost the sales of the new car.
The now extinct second generation of the Brazilian-made Vectra was introduced in the country in 1996 and some 313,035 units were made until last Friday.
Rogerio Louro
