At 2006’s British motor show, General Motors Europe’s Opel and Vauxhall brands launched the all-new Corsa supermini. At next year’s event it looks like it will be the Vectra replacement.
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Jonathan Browning, GM Europe vice-president of sales, marketing and aftersales – as well as chairman of Vauxhall – wouldn’t give a definite yes to a London show debut next July. But he wasn’t far off.
He said: “We were very pleased to support the show at London with the Corsa. The UK is today our biggest market in Europe, and we put a lot of value on communicating to UK customers. We feel the London show has potential to develop into one of the top tier shows in Europe. We also think the timing in the middle of the year works well for the traditional autumn introduction for new products. When you put together our enthusiasm for the UK, our good experience at London with Corsa, then it’s a high probability [that we’ll launch Vectra there]. We haven’t nailed down that decision yet, and it could go either side to Geneva or Paris, but for me London is the ideal time.”
Browning also confirmed the Vectra name is dead. “The replacement vehicle will not be called Vectra. We haven’t announced formally the new name – there’s been some speculation – but we will be announcing it formally later in the year,” he said.
And what can we expect from the all-new car? Browning said: “Let me take you back to the step that the current generation Astra took from the prior one, and the step we took with Corsa, generation to generation. Think about the energy and enthusiasm that the three-door executions [of those cars] created. For me, in terms of the next generation Vectra, the step we’re taking with that car is substantially greater than the steps we took with either the Astra or Corsa.”
