The Opel Insignia will be given new engines to go with its scheduled facelift, a source within GM has told just-auto. The updated car will be launched at the Frankfurt IAA in September.
Opel-Vauxhall recently revealed a new 1.6-litre diesel engine under the bonnet of the Zafira Tourer. In that model, it produces 100kW (136PS) but for the heavier Insignia, its output is expected to rise.
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It will have taken Opel longer than expected to give the Insignia its scheduled mid-cycle refresh by the time the Frankfurt show comes around. Both Opel and Vauxhall four- and five-door versions of this replacement for the Vectra were launched at the London motor show as long ago as July 2008. The wagon (‘Sports Tourer’) followed at the Paris show three months later. Both the Vauxhall Insignia and LHD/RHD Opel Insignia went on sale in Europe in January 2009, with the Sports Tourer following in May 2009.
The UK is GM Europe’s number one market, thanks to the ongoing success of the Vauxhall brand, with the Insignia playing a supporting role to the Corsa and Astra. In 2012, Vauxhall sold 32,610 units of the car, making it the number one non-premium brand model in the D segment. The car was also over 10,000 units clear of both the Ford Mondeo and VW Passat, which placed second and third behind the Vauxhall. The D segment was led by the BMW 3 Series (44,521) and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class (37,261).
As for the Insignia replacement, in October 2012, GM and PSA stated that a ‘joint programme for mid-sized cars’ would be one of four co-developed architectures to be launched ‘by the end of 2016’. This platform would have been for Opel, Vauxhall, Peugeot and Citroen models. The likely PSA cars would have been the replacements for the Peugeot 508, Citroen C5 and Citroen DS5.
The future of the next generation of Opel and Vauxhall’s biggest model appeared to suddenly shift in December 2012: GM and PSA issued a new statement to the media concerning their future shared vehicles and platforms. In it, there was no mention of large cars.
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By GlobalDataIt is now believed that the Insignia’s successor will introduce GM’s E2XX architecture. The so-called ‘home room’ for the engineering development of this collection of modules is said to be at Opel’s Rüsselsheim base.
Author: Glenn Brooks
