Since Corsa began to build a very successful reputation, not only in Europe, it became interesting for Opel to invest in it, in the sense of making it a better product. The only downside of that was a market gap just like the previously mentioned, which GM filled by offering Agila, a microvan developed with Suzuki and marketed by both. However, the recent recurring financial losses made it necessary for the company to change its strategy. The European branch was freed of the internal competition with Chevrolet, and engaged in a plan to make its own lineup more interesting. Corsa’s great image was taken a little further with the latest generation, which was enough to make room for not only one supermini below its two versions (three and five-door), but a second regular duo.
One of the key actions for that would be making these two offer different car concepts from both Corsa’s and each other’s. Adam took the first step by being an fashionable, image-oriented city car, so its counterpart should be more rational. That “make it more interesting” rule made GM go towards a whole new car. The partnership with Suzuki was ended, and Agila was dropped in favor of an internal project. Its youngest concoction shares a global platform which already underpins from the Chinese Sail to the Brazilian Spin, and will have a double identity: while Opel named it after its founder’s oldest son, Vauhxall has revived Viva, which used to refer to a compact car sold during the 1960s and 1970s. But this is as far as their differences go.
Despite Karl/Viva has an entire design of its own, it looks like a more discreet Spark. The whole “tall hatchback” silhouette appears once again and repeats the creased sheetmetal. However, following Opel’s style rules brought a set of smaller lights and air intakes – not only does the car resemble its bigger in-house brothers, as it also avoids the Korean supermini’s exaggerations. The front fascia features the signature smile grille, with a single chrome bar; the sides play with light and shadow using three strong creases; and the rear uses three-dimensional lights which try to make part of the sheetmetal’s curves. Once again wanting them to pursue separate targets, GM will only offer the new hatchback with five doors, while Adam is restricted to three.
Karl and Viva’s interior gives the same initial impressions. The room is rational, rather than fancy or sophisticated. The monochromatic trim is combined to some matte chrome inserts and a piano-black central console, but this is the smallest of its talents. One main attraction is IntelliLink, Opel’ infotainment system which uses the large screen you see at the pictures and features Android and iOS integration. The other is a nice equipment list, which includes heated steering wheel, hill-start assist, lane-departure warning, park assist and an optional sunroof. Everything paired to the aforementioned five-seater room which makes the best of a 3,680-mm external length. There will be ten external colors and several wheel designs from 14” to 16”.
Since these are low-cost hatchbacks, there won’t be any breathtaking surprises coming from the performance front. Both the German and the English will have a single engine option, which happens to be a three-cylinder Ecotec unit which displaces one liter, burns gasoline and produces 74 hp. All further information that is already known about it is that it’ll be paired to a five-speed manual transmission, but you can expect fuel efficiency to be huge. Besides, the model’s “realistic nature” will certainly prevent it from having any sporty versions in the future. On the plus side, it is also the reason why Karl is expected to start at less than €10,000 and Viva around £7,000. Both will go on sale in the middle of this year.