Fiat to Supply Opel with Commercial Vehicles Made in Turkey

In this day and age, automakers are either buying each other up forming new groups or constantly deepening their cooperation with their counterparts. The Fiat Group, which recently acquired a 20% stake in Chrysler, is now expanding its commercial vehicle joint ventures to include GM's European Opel and Vauxhall units.
The Italian company, which has a joint venture for larger LCVs with the PSA Peugeot-Citroen Group, has signed a contract agreement with GM to supply vehicles comprising of several variants to Opel starting from December 2011. The new model will replace the German firm's Combo light commercial vehicle, keeping the same name. The range will include a number of derivatives, such as cargo vans, passenger vehicles and chassis cabs.


The new Opel Combo will be based on the same platform as the current Fiat Doblo models, with production to take place at Fiat's Tofas plant in Bursa, Turkey where the Doblo is manufactured. According to the announcement, the project calls for an initial supply of up to 6,000 vehicles in 2011, and gradually increase to at 250,000 units per year.
The new Combo will be sold by Vauxhall and Opel dealers in Europe and other markets outside of North America starting in January 2012.

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2011 Vauxhall Antara Facelift Prices Start Under £20k in the UK

Following the reveal of its Opel counterpart in mainland Europe, Vauxhall has released pricing and specifications on the UK market Antara facelift, which boasts a barely noticeable makeover and a refreshed engine lineup. Prices for the updated SUV now start from £19,995 for the 2.2 CDTi (163PS) Exclusiv front-wheel drive model, which according to Vauxhall, represents a saving of £2,835 over the outgoing base version.



On the outside, styling changes for the 2011 Antara include the updated front grille with the new Griffin logo, enhanced by fog lights finished with chrome bezels on SE models, new 19-inch alloy wheels and modified rear lights.

Inside, the new Antara's cabin features a revised centre console with extra storage and higher-quality materials, in addition to improved instrument graphics and better interior lighting.

The 2011 model's revised Euro-5 compliant engine line-up includes a newly-developed 2.2-liter CDTI turbodiesel in two states of tune with 163HP or 184HP. The 163HP version is available in front-wheel drive with a six-speed manual transmission only or all-wheel drive hooked up to either a manual or six-speed auto gearbox. The more potent 184HP variant also offers a choice of manual or automatic transmissions, and comes with all-wheel drive as standard. All transmissions have been revised to improve efficiency.

The Vauxhall Antara will not be offered in the UK with the revised 170HP 2.4-liter gasoline engine of its Opel sibling.


GM Europe's engineers have also re-worked the SUV's chassis with revised spring and damper settings.

Finally, Vauxhall has improved safety and comfort features with the addition of an electric parking brake, a Hill Assist System as well as a "shift-up" fuel economy indicator on all models.

"At less than £20k, the new Antara is set to be highly competitive in today's SUV market," said Peter Hope, Vauxhall's Marketing Director. "Its lower emissions, higher output diesel engines and refreshed design will offer renewed appeal to both retail and fleet customers."

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2011 Opel Corsa Facelift Pictures Found and Confirmed on Official Site

A couple of weeks, we told you about a series of photos showing the 2011/2012 Opel Corsa facelift. To recap, according to numerous tipsters including Carscoop reader Javier, the pictures were found momentarily on Opel's German site, but were removed shortly after some users started uploading the images on the firm's Facebook page. Unfortunately, we weren't able to verify the claim then.

But Javier kept on looking and this time, he was able to tip us off in a timely manner about the Corsa facelift making its appearance on Opel's Belgian website. And yes, we can confirm their authenticity. The pictures of the standard 3-door and 5-door Corsa as well as of the OPC hot hatch that you see in our gallery after the jump were downloaded by us.

The only visible change over the current Corsa concerns the refreshed fascia that receives a crispier front grille similar to the one found on the updated 2011 Antara we told about yesterday, reshaped headlamps and a new design for the bumper with a wider lower grille and taller housings for the fog lamps (expect the OPC).

That's all we have for now, but we'll update this story as soon as something pops up on our radar.

Kudos to Javier for the tip!

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2011 Opel Antara Receives Minor Facelift with Renewed Engine Lineup

Following in the footsteps of its sister Chevrolet Captiva model, the Opel / Vauxhall Antara has received a mid-life refresh. It hasn't been around for long so there are no big styling changes for this facelift, just minor tweaks here and there to keep the crossover model looking up to date in a line-up of newer Opel products such as the Meriva, Astra and Insignia.

For the 2011MY, the Antara gets a new front grille with a less prominent logo and redesigned front bumper with new fog lights and lower grille styling, plus modified rear light clusters and optional 19-inch light-metal wheels. Interior changes come in the form of a new center console with extra storage solutions, new materials and added color options.


The most important changes for the Antara are hidden under the hood as Opel has fully re-worked the engine line-up, which is Euro-5 compliant. The latest entry to the range is a newly-developed 2.2-liter CDTI Turbo diesel, which comes with two outputs: a 163hp version that offers 36 hp more than its predecessor model, and a 184 hp variant offering 34 hp more power.

The 163 hp variant is available in front-wheel or all-wheel drive as well as with manual or automatic six-gear transmissions, while the 184 hp also offers a choice of manual or automatic transmissions, and comes with all-wheel drive as standard.

As for the gasoline line-up, the 2.4 liter four-cylinder unit now produces 170hp, or, 30 hp more power and like the diesel variants, it is is available in front-wheel or all-wheel drive and comes as manual or automatic six-gear transmission.

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Is this the 2012 Opel / Vauxhall Corsa Facelift?

We were tipped off this morning by an attentive reader from Chile about images of the facelifted Opel Corsa (Vauxhall in the UK) that were posted by a user on Opel's dedicated Facebook page. The back story is that the refreshed Corsa was found momentarily on the official configurator on Opel's German site, but was abruptly removed shortly after the posting. We checked on the webpage but didn't find anything.

Now, unless we have a photoshop-wiz in our hands, we'd say the images look pretty real. The cosmetic changes over the current model (at least the ones we can see from these angles) are concentrated on the front end that takes styling cues from both the new Meriva and latest Astra, including a crispier front grille, reshaped headlamps and a new design for the bumper with a wider lower grille and taller housings for the fog lamps on either side.

We'll keep an eye on Opel's site to see if these pictures turn out to be real or fake and post an update on any new developments.

Muchas gracias Javier for the tip!

Via: Opel Facebook

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New Opel Ampera to Sell for €42,900 or US$59,100 in Europe

General Motors announced today that the European version of its extended-range Chevrolet Volt electric car, the Ampera, will go on sale in the fourth quarter of 2011 as an Opel in mainland Europe and as a Vauxhall in the UK, with prices -including tax- starting from €42,900.

At the current exchange rates, that comes to around US$59,100, which is significantly higher than the base price of the Volt in the USA that sells for US$41,000 (€29,800) not including a $7,500 federal tax credit.

Opel noted that in Germany, with 19 percent VAT, the Ampera net price is €36,050, adding that, because trim levels may be different in each market, prices in each country may also differ.

"The Ampera defines a new class of e-mobility. No other electric vehicle provides the freedom of individual transportation as the Opel Ampera," said Alain Visser, Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Aftersales at Opel. "We have compromised on nothing. The Ampera is a beautiful car that is as fun to drive as it is packed with premium content."

Even though the exterior and interior design have been slightly modified over the Volt, everything else remains the same with the North American model, meaning that the Ampera can be driven in pure electric mode for 40-80km before the petrol engine kicks in to produce electricity and / or motivate (we still haven't figured that out...) the front driving wheels.

When the 16-kWh, lithium-ion battery runs low, it can be recharged in about three hours at 230v by plugging the vehicle's on-board charge system into a standard outlet. Together, the battery and gasoline-fueled engine/generator can extend the total driving range to over 500 kilometers on a full tank.

Those interested to reserve the Ampera can head over to General Motors' dedicated site at "opel-ampera.com".

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