Ten-Millionth Opel Corsa Is Built At Eisenach, Germany

[Toto]

Source: http://www.gmeurope.info/social_medi...-Eisenach.html

German Economics Minister Michael Glos and Minister-President of the German State of Thuringia Dieter Althaus were present as actress Esther Schweins drove the ten-millionth Opel Corsa off the production lines at the plant in Eisenach. The anniversary car is a Corsa ecoFLEX 1.3 CDTI, which emits an especially low 119 grams CO2/km.

The plant in Eisenach began production in 1992, with work on the current Corsa model beginning in August 2006 after a 150 million-euro investment in new manufacturing facilities. Together with the models produced at the Spanish plant in Zaragoza, around 550,000 new Corsas have been sold so far.

In 2007, it was the most successful supermini in Germany with 79,000 registrations. The Corsa also comes with a six-year warranty, which Opel recently introduced for its new vehicles. First presented at the IAA in September 2007, the Corsa ecoFLEX version boasts especially low fuel consumption and correspondingly low CO2 emissions. It is the first car in the ecoFLEX variant range – the most economical and environmentally compatible versions in each Opel model line.

[montrealvue]

...yet in North America we wait for one.....

[GMusa]

Im glad GM's Opel group in so successful in Europe!!

[t-rex]

Originally Posted by montrealvue

...yet in North America we wait for one.....

I think part of the reason we won't get it soon, and the reason the Aussies got stuck with a Daewoo for their Barina, is simply because of the car's popularity in Europe. The Corsa's only assembled in two plants, and I doubt there's capacity to produce more for large markets such as the US. And the South American plants are maxxed-out producing the old-shape Corsa for local consumption. Maybe GM should start cranking out Corsas in Oklahoma City or tool up Doraville to produce them. Heck with the weak dollar, we could even export them. I know the Australians are screaming to get the new Corsa, and with current exchange rates, we could export them down under for much less than a Euro-built model.

I think there's room in the US for small cars like these. I ventured out of my urban enclave yesterday to run an errand out to one of the rural parishes. Tooling along I-10, I was surprised to see no less than THREE Yarises, two Fits, and that new Accent hatchback. But not a single new Malibu...

Get on the ball GM!!!

[vxl]

Originally Posted by t-rex

Get on the ball GM!!!

How many times have I thought this? Lutz et al, for car guys, appear to have a built-in "delay" function. Or is Lutz's true love 6 litre dinosuar vehicles that sell 50k / year?

[bone]

I honestly can't believe this vehicle is not in Saturn showrooms today. Lutz,etc. have known for years that Cafe was going to happen. Instead of being proactive they simply continued focussing on big trucks and cheap Korean econoboxes. Now is the time to build the Corsa and Astra in N.A. with the same engineering and derivatives as the European models.