Corsa comming as a Saturn

[Variance]

Next Corsa to be Sold Stateside

In a startling affirmation of America's embrace of small cars, General Motors has decided to sell the next-generation Opel Corsa in the United States. The small car "will very definitely go to the United States," Bob Lutz, GM's global product chief, said in an interview last week at the Paris auto show. GM plans to badge it as a Saturn.

(The story came from Automotive News and the entire article requires a subscrpition. So if anyone has one and wants to post the whole article, feel free.)

Read "Next Opel Corsa to be sold in U.S." @ Automotive News (subscription required)

[Northstar]

Wow, so Saturn is going to have the Corsa, Astra, and Aura. The Corsa already has like 75,000 orders in Europe, so I'd say it sould do okay here as well.

[Drew Dowdell]

the Corsa would/should kick the Yaris into the weeds. Fit and Versa would still be formitable foes. Aveo <in current form> would be rendered irrelevent.

[PurdueGuy]

What is meant by the "next" Corsa? There is one just coming out IIRC - do they mean that one, or the one following?

Bring it!

[haypops]

click here

[Bimmer325]

This is a no-brainer.

The fuel-efficient sub-compact market is booming, and the Corsa is infinitely more appealing than a Yaris or Fit.

[haypops]

This is a no-brainer. 

The fuel-efficient sub-compact market is booming, and the Corsa is infinitely more appealing than a Yaris or Fit.

200454[/snapback]

I assume that it will be more costly than the Aveo?

[thegriffon]

"The next-generation Corsa likely will be about the size of the current one, which is smaller than the Yaris."

Ehhh, the one currently in production is much, much bigger than a Yaris. Even the old one is bigger than a Yaris (almost anything is bigger than a 5-door Yaris).

5-door hatchbacks, Euro spec.

A-segment

Daihatsu Sirion: 141.5"

Suzuki Swift: 145.5"

Proton Savvy: 146.1"

Perodua Myvi (Malaysian Sirion): 146.5"

Nissan Micra: 146.7"

Smart forfour: 147.7"

VW Fox: 149.8"

B-segment

Hyundai Getz: 150"

Yaris : 150"

Honda Fit: 151.4"

Citroen C3: 151.6"

Lada Calina: 151.6"

Mitsubishi Colt: 152.4"

Chevrolet Kalos: 152.8"

VW Polo: 154.2"

Ford Fiesta: 154.2"

Mazda2: 154.5"

Skoda Fabia: 156.3"

Renault Clio: 156.9"

Kia Rio: 157.1"

Opel Corsa: 157.4"

Fiat Grande Punto: 158.7"

Peugeot 207: 158.7"

C-segment

Toyota Corolla: 164.4"

VW Golf: 165.5"

So you can see the new Corsa is closer in length to the Corolla hatch than it is to the Yaris, and is a good deal wider than either (68.4" v 66.7").

Edited October 2, 2006 by thegriffon

[sciguy_0504]

OMG! It has front 1/4 windows!

R-Class headlamps, Versa-esque profile. I guess it's alright.

[thegriffon]

For the whole article:

http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti...41/TOC01ARCHIVE

[Flybrian]

OMG!  It has front 1/4 windows!

200478[/snapback]

Yeah, those suck. Not as bad as the Yaris hatch, but still suck.

[thegriffon]

Almost all new small cars have this type of quarter window, as does the next Corolla hatch (Auris): (Auris space concept)

[ToniCipriani]

Next Corsa on Gamma right? And Gamma is under GMDAT right now? So essentially an Aveo?

[Northstar]

Wait, so they're announcing this for the next Corsa, as in, the one after the one that hasn't even been sold yet but is going to be sold very soon? I sure hope it means the one that's about to be sold in Europe, not one 5 years from now.

[ToniCipriani]

I thought the new Corsa is on sale already. They were talking about it on Top Gear.

[Northstar]

According to this Reuters article, it goes on sale in 5 days, and they have 70-75k orders:

Article

[thegriffon]

Wait, so they're announcing this for the next Corsa, as in, the one after the one that hasn't even been sold yet but is going to be sold very soon? I sure hope it means the one that's about to be sold in Europe, not one 5 years from now.

200505[/snapback]

They could always change their minds like Honda did and just slap some new bumpers on the European model late in the model cycle.

[pow]

They could always change their minds like Honda did and just slap some new bumpers on the European model late in the model cycle.

200536[/snapback]

The Corsa is Go!

[big blue]

Like the interior, it's pretty attractive. Hope GM doesn't stuff the parts bin radio into it like it did for the new VUE.

[ocnblu]

It would be a tiny car I wouldn't be ashamed to drive (yeah, I know, I said the same about the Yaris...)

[ToniCipriani]

The Corsa is Go!

200537[/snapback]

I don't like that tagline for the Fit...

This one's better: Throw yourself into a Fit.

[turbo200]

They could always change their minds like Honda did and just slap some new bumpers on the European model late in the model cycle.

200536[/snapback]

This needs to happen.

Among the subcompacts, the Versa and Yaris are both pretty devoid of character, exterior-wise. The Fit has some character, but is nowhere near as appealing as the new Corsa. The Fit also manages to feel very substantial, if only a bit underpowered. No small car would come near the Corse for design strength, inside and out...this would be a good thing for those looking for a slightly more expensive and expressive small car that can achieve very good gas mileage. This is key, gas mileage, the whole reason to get a small car is that they are very efficient. There are buyers, and will be more buyers if gas prices continue to rise, that are willing to switch out of bigger cars to be in something that is comfortable, substantial feeling, but gets incredible gas mileage. This is the formula that is working very well for the new Civic.

Good news that it's coming here, the question is when.

[Robert Hall]

The Corsa would be cool to see here..esp. with a diesel option.

[Northstar]

I read an article that I'm going to post from Autoweek where they interview Lutz and he says it would take 3 years to but all of the federal regulations on the Corsa that are needed to be sold here (!)

[cavalier36]

the Corsa would/should kick the Yaris into the weeds. Fit and Versa would still be formitable foes. Aveo <in current form> would be rendered irrelevent.

actually the next Aveo will be built on the same platform as the Corsa.. so in reality they will be just reskinned versions of each other.. Saturn Corsa?? im really hoping it gets a diffrent name.. Corsa... Corsica... need i say more??

[Ghost Dog]

And I'll never buy another Saturn. Chrysler Here I Come.

[Cadillacfan]

Oh.. you mean you won't buy Saturn because it's going to sell a foreign car made to appeal to the North American market by an American company and go to the same Chrysler that's owned by a foreign company and uses foreign platforms/components? Right... makes a lot of sense.

I'm all for the Corsa. If GM has the means to bring a competitive B-class vehicle to the North American market, then they should. They're not going to sit on their a$$es and let the market pass by them because they don't want to "upset" anyone. We all know what happened when they did that before.

Edited October 6, 2006 by Cadillacfan

[PurdueGuy]

As I think about this... what competition will there be for this in 5 years? It'd be an awesome vehicle now, but 5 years from now... I hope the next gen rocks more than this, simply because that's what it'll take at that point.