This was in Just Auto - read to the end
14 Sep 2007.
General Motors vice chairman of global product development, Bob Lutz,
has ruled out building a coupe version of the Opel/Vauxhall Vectra replacement,
likely to be badged Insignia, which is due on sale in Europe in September next
year.
GMs veteran product guru also declared that future Opel and Vauxhall
lines will not be topped by a long-rumoured larger car.
Asked to comment on reports that GM sales and marketing executives had warmed
to an Insignia coupe after an enthusiastic media and public response to the
Geneva show GTC concept car, Lutz said: There is no review and it is not
for production.
But he promised that the Insignia hatchback and sedan would be pretty
stunning compared to the upright and stiff looking Vectra. He added:
Every line and all the surfaces are harmonious and generate a great deal
of dynamism and thrust. It is about customers putting aesthetics ahead of
practicality in the first place because they want to buy better looking
cars.
Although Renaults Laguna coupe drew rave responses at Frankfurt, GM
analysts point to the small European upper medium coupe market, with the
Peugeot 407s main claim to fame being that it outsells its larger 607
sedan sibling in non-French markets.
The coupe market is largely the domain of premium brands like BMWs 3
Series, Mercedes CLK plus the newly arrived Audi A5, with
Infinitis G37 due next year.
On the decision not to build a successor to the late Opel/Vauxhall Omega
(dropped in 2002), Lutz said: There is no plan to have an ultra-Opel, or
a really expensive top of the line Opel at this time.
Hugh Hunston
Copyright © 2007 just-auto.com.
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