It’s suicide time for Vauxhall’s mini-MPV. This sneak preview of the Meriva concept to be unveiled at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show reveals suicide-style rear doors that will be a production certainty for the next-gen Meriva. The mini-MPV will retain its B-pillar so that structural integrity is maintained and so the rear doors can be opened independently of the front ones.
‘The rear-hinged doors are both lighter and less expensive to engineer than sliding doors,’ said Sara Nicholson, GM’s European product manager for compact cars. ‘They are also very convenient to use: you don’t have to walk around the rear door from the front if you want to help passengers get in or load something onto the back seat. And the shape of the opening makes it much easier to get into the back seats.’
Vauxhall Meriva: the suicide story
Any worries about the ‘suicide door’ epithet? ‘No,’ stated Nicholson, categorically. ‘Modern locking mechanisms are so much better today than when this type of door was last popular. They will automatically lock as soon as the car is in motion.’
Expect to see the new Vauxhall/Opel Meriva at a the Paris Motor Show in 2008; it will become the first mini MPV with suicide doors, dubbed FlexDoor in GM-speak.