Saturn Corsa???
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I know, I know…GM said last year they would wait for the next generation to import the Opel Corsa in the US.
But, hey.. why ???
This would be the only US competition to the new Scion xD.
And it looks great!
The $13 000 Scion is still made in Japan, where labor costs aren’t really that cheap. So I’m sure GM could find a way to make a little bit of money with the Corsa in the US.
They did find a way to get us the Astra, right???
Well, the 2007 Corsa is the “New Generation” so they didn’t really lie when they (in 2006) said that they’d wait for the next generation.
It’s brand new and has barely entered shops here. The 2006 was a whole different beast.
How nice it will be in the States depends on wether they’ll sell the South European edition or North European edition.
South = No Equipment, cheap interior/exterior.
North = Plenty of equipment, nice interiors/exterior.
Reason for this?
It’s cold up north and cars are much more expensive (due to higher minimum security-demands, comfort-demands etc.) When customers pay more, even for small cars, they expect more from it.
My impression from the US is:
Small car = cheap and nasty
Big car = costly and luxurious.
Here it’s often the other way aroound. No small=cheap at all.
Doesn’t meet US crash specs I think.
They SHOULD design next generation on US specs to importation would be just paperwork.
The main and only reason why GM will not bring over the Corsa is due to the fact that the platform it is on does not meet current US crash standards and spending all that money on refiting it would not be cost effective considering that GM doesn’t really make money on compact and subcompact vehicles anyway. The next Corsa platform, which will also be the basis for the next Chevy Aveo and other sub-compact vehicles throughout GM Global including the Saturn Corsa will be made to meet all saftey regulations and will be produced in North America.
The reason why GM is not bringing the Corsa here is because they would have to modify it too much to pass US standards. The Corsa is a hot little car. I drove one in Europe and had a blast in it. It was really zippy.