Next Generation Opel Zafira Test Mule Spied

As the second generation Opel Zafira facelift makes its worldwide debut at the Bologna Motor Show this week, our spy photographers have caught a strange looking prototype test mule in Northern Sweden wearing a disheveled and crooked Zafira body with large panel gaps at the hood/grille and rear liftgate/rear bumper joints.

With the second generation Zafira on the market since 2005, the next generation is due in Europe for 2012. However, Automotive News recently confirmed from GM that production of the third generation Zafira, which will be built on the new global Delta MPV7 platform, will commence in Detroit for export to Europe instead of Bochum, Germany, and Gliwice, Poland where it is presently produced. The rationale for exporting the Zafira to Europe is due to the weak dollar as well as further proliferation of Opel models into the American market starting with a Zafira badged Chevy MPV for 2009. A Zafira badged Saturn MPV is also being considered.