Opel/Vauxhall's Meriva replacement will ditch the minivan looks of the current model for crossover styling but it won't be a SUV.
The Meriva successor will have a "very stylized" design that is softer than the off-road look of the automaker's Mokka subcompact SUV, CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann said.
With sales of SUVs and crossovers booming, automakers face the challenge of giving their people movers a high-riding, SUV-like look while still maintaining the roominess and practicality of minivans.
Opel rival Peugeot has swapped boxy minivan looks for a rugged SUV appearance with its latest 3008 and 5008 models. Another rival, Renault, has given its Scenic and Espace vehicles softer crossover styling while – like Peugeot -- ditching the boxy styling of previous generations.
For the Meriva replacement, Opel has gone a similar design route to Renault for technical reasons. The model will use a PSA Group platform as part of an industrial partnership between its parent General Motors and the French automaker.
Neumann said Opel originally wanted the Meriva successor to be a minivan like the current car but the plan was dropped because the automaker could not make the design work on the PSA platform. "We tried to do a Meriva and failed and so we said maybe this is not the right car," he said, adding that a crossover design looked much better.
The model will be built at Opel's factory in Zaragoza, Spain, where the current Meriva is produced. Opel also will build the replacements for the Peugeot 2008 and Citroen C3 Picasso in the factory as part of the GM-PSA partnership.
Neumann said the Meriva successor will look very different to the Peugeot and Citroen models. "We didn’t want to come with a badged version of something," he said in a roundtable discussion with journalists at the Paris auto show earlier this month.
Opel has not said whether the model will keep the Meriva name. It's due to go on sale next year after an expected debut at the Geneva auto show in March.
