Vauxhall and Opel will launch this new city car, dubbed variously Allegra/Junior/that small Vauxhall. It’s a new sub-Corsa mini which will be unveiled in 2012 before sales commence in 2013.
Based on the underpinnings of the Chevrolet Cruze, the Allegra will conceptually replace the Vauxhall Agila and will have space for four adults.
We expect prices for the baby Griffin to kick off from around £9500, or close to Fiat 500 money.
Vauxhall Allegra/Junior/that small Vauxhall: what we know
This new Vauxhall city car is inspired by the Mini and Fiat 500, say GM types, and stretches the tape measure to around 3700mm long.
Our new spy photos reveal a stubby three-door, with an unusually long front overhang but a rear axle pushed back.
‘We have a heritage in small cars, but we wanted to do this in a contemporary way,’ says European design chief Mark Adams. ‘It’s modern but with real personality.
‘We want to show we are not in a straightjacket. Cars like the Junior will make people realise we are really pushing the Opel-Vauxhall brand. If we’d have tried to introduce it before Insignia, it probably wouldn’t have worked. Now we have the quality, and we’re flirting with more character and personality.’
Personalisation of the Vauxhall Junior
So confident are Vauxhall and Opel that they’re even preparing a major personalisation programme for the Junior – it’s all about the kerr-ching – and high-end infotainment systems will be offered too.
Nick Reilly, GM Europe president, has told CAR the Junior will be ‘a chic and stylish mini car… that fits with today’s hip, urban spirit. It is not a low-cost verison of Corsa.’
Expect to see the new baby Vauxhall in UK showrooms in early 2013, after a motor show debut in 2012.