Vauxhall Meriva Rendered Speculation

Opel has released the first sketch of its second-generation Meriva just days ago, on February 6, 2008, but, since the final presentation will only take place in March, when the Geneva Motor Show opens its doors, AutoExpress.co.uk has provided a rendered speculation on what the new minivan will look like, even with the Vauxhall badge. If the result gets any closer to the artist’s imagination, the new (Opel, Vauxhall, Chevrolet… whatever) Meriva will make people forget about the current one in a short period of time.

Clearly inspired on the Flextreme Concept (check the side lines of both cars), the new Meriva will present interesting new solutions, such as suicide rear doors (they are hinged to the C column, not the B, as it is usual), which are said to improve safety and ease of access to the vehicle’s interior. We have spy photos that confirm this information. Bigger flexibility is expected to come from some more features we have not been presented so far.

AutoExpress.co.uk states that the new Meriva will also aim at upmarket competitors, such as the VW Golf Plus, Mini Clubman and the future Fiesta/Verve-based MPV, but we would also bet on the regular opponents, such as the Fiat Idea, Lancia Musa , the future Honda Jazz/Fit and Renault Modus and Grand Modus . Since Citroën also wants a piece of this market segment, with the C3-based Minispace, the small minivans will present quite a struggle for the consumers’ preference in the next couple years.

Sales for the new Meriva will probably start in 2009. As the vehicle that will be presented at the Geneva Motor Show has been called a “concept�, the production version is very likely to appear at the Paris Motor Show, by October. The new minivan will get all the engines the current Corsa uses, but all of them will be equipped with a stop-start technology in order to save fuel.