- “Best Buy Car of Europe for 2015”: Opel’s new small car wins over expert jury
- First car in AUTOBEST history to win with consecutive model generations
26 JANUARY 2015 – Rüsselsheim. Just three months after its European launch, Opel has already received over 55 000 orders for the fifth generation Corsa. In addition to the enthusiastic reception from European buyers, the Corsa has been recognised by a panel of judges who have bestowed it with the AUTOBEST 2015 award.
At the large test finale in Belgrade, Serbia, the newcomer prevailed with a total of 994 points over similarly brand-new competitors including the Hyundai i20 (906 points), Skoda Fabia (871 points) and Citroën C4 Cactus (830 points) making it the first ever car in AUTOBEST history to win the prestigious award with consecutive model generations.
The AUTOBEST expert jury is made up of leading motoring journalists from 15 central and eastern European countries. Comprising around 300 million people, the award is extremely popular and highly respected in this market. Only cars with a compelling price-performance ratio can win this title, because next to classic vehicle characteristics, the jury also carefully considers maintenance costs, spare-parts distribution and dealers’ range of services.
Ultimately the best deal for the normal, average customer is victorious – and the Opel Corsa proved to be unbeatable. Dan Vardie, chairman of the AUTOBEST jury, stated: “The new Corsa proved to be a great small car. All the jury members noticed the arguments that made the new Opel `The Best Buy Car of Europe in 2015’. The new generation Corsa is a meaningful evolution of the Opel model that won AUTOBEST award seven years ago.”
“We are convinced that the Corsa is the best new small car, and now the AUTOBEST jury has confirmed this,” commented Opel Group CEO, Dr Karl-Thomas Neumann. “We are very proud of this. The new-generation Corsa stands for the art of German engineering, emotional design and excellent value for money. Safety and assistance systems as well as new, state-of-the-art engines and transmissions are real technological highlights.”
The Corsa is one of Opel’s most important models and accounts for around one-fourth of the tradition-rich brand’s total sales. In the 32 years since the first-generation Corsa was introduced to the market, over 12.4 million units of the small car have been sold. The fourth-generation alone, the Corsa D, sold around three million units between 2006 and 2014 and won the AUTOBEST award in 2007. The new Corsa is also a cornerstone of Opel’s ongoing product offensive: to 2018, the brand will introduce 27 new cars and 17 new engines to the market.
The all-new Corsa reaches South African roads during the first quarter of 2015.
