When we hear about badge-engineered vehicles, our first thought is usually of multiple models coming from the same one. There are usually several of them, each one with different name and marque, but most cases end with only the “original” car having satisfactory sales. This is why even though the latter one reaches a new generation, its variations either don’t follow it or do it as a whole different car, without any connection with its predecessor. One could understand this situation a little better by comparing with a tree’s branches: the bigger ones would be the base car and the smaller ones its variations, like Dacia Logan and Renault Logan and Tondar 90, Nissan Aprio and Mahindra Verito. But there are some exceptions when it comes to GM.
This article’s sedan made its first appearance in 2003 as a rebadged Daewoo Nubira, and it was offered mostly in African and Eastern countries. However, since its sales performance resulted very positive, the Optra nameplate turned even stronger than Nubira’s. Since Daewoo was acquired by GM at that time, that project was redesigned and released as Lacetti but once again also creating a Chevrolet Optra, this time with the sedan being joined by a hatchback and a station wagon. At that moment, the automaker started to create several different combinations of brand and model names in order to have whichever had the best image in each country. Some of them are Holden Viva, Buick Excelle and Suzuki Forenza, along with the aforementioned ones.
Having a complete understanding of which nameplates were used at each market and during which period doesn’t get far from being a Herculean task, but the bottom line is that with such strategy it managed to deserve a second generation, whose pictures illustrate this article. And since there is a whole tradition to follow, the newest Optra is a rebadged Baojun 630. The design changes were kept to a minimum once again and they look good, but given that the Chinese sibling arrived four years ago, it would be much better if it appeared as the new Optra with some updates. Everything looks well-proportioned and some of it was adapted to Chevrolet’s current design language, like the front fascia, but styling won’t probably be one of its strongest sales arguments.
Optra’s interior mimicks 630’s just as well, but in this case these are better news. Asian, African and Middle-Eastern drivers will receive a simpler version of the Chinese car’s central console, but there are exclusive color schemes and the very same structure, which, in turn, shares the Gamma II platform with many compact and mid-size Chevrolets designed for emergent markets. Besides, the 4.59-m length and 2.64-m long wheelbase ensure the same level of internal space as Cruze’s, even though this one is sold as a more sophisticated option. The new sedan will only use a four-cylinder 1.5L engine, which generates 110 cv, reaches 13.7 kpl of gasoline and can be paired to a five-speed manual transmission or a four-speed automatic.