Earlier this week, GM Authority reader Everton saw an Opel Vivaro traversing the streets of Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The van wasn’t camo’ed or wrapped, with the Opel logo and nomenclature clearly visible. Coincidentally, the van was spotted near the headquarters of GM Canada and wore the 2900 insignia on its fenders, representing the 2900 kg gross vehicle weight rating of the van. Most interesting of all is the fact that the van contained several instruments attached to the dash, which we’re assuming to be development and calibration equipment.
So, what’s a Euro-market Opel/Vauxhall doing in North America? We can only guess that it’s undergoing some kind of testing. Fortunately, we’re aware of a few facts that might help us answer this question without too much guess work.
For starters, we’ve known that GM’s line of (rather outdated) full-size van offerings in North America — the Chevy Express and GMC Savana — will be replaced at some point in the future, especially now that Ford has come clean about its plans to bring its full-size Transit to North America (as the T-Series) and Mercedes has been having moderate success with its Sprinter. And while the Vivaro may fit the bill on the low-duty end of the van spectrum, the Renault-designed van falls short when it comes to the Heavy Duty segment: it isn’t available in a dually and its most powerful engine, a 2.0 liter turbodiesel, tops out at 84 kW (112 hp) and 290 Nm (213 lb.-ft. of torque). That’s not to say that GM can’t fit in a new mill under the Vivaro’s hood were it to make its way to the New World… but it seems that such a vehicle would still pale in comparison to the offerings from The Blue Oval and The Pointed Star. As such, we’d rather have GM bring over the much more capable Opel Movano (which also happens to be Renault-designed).
That said, the Movano may not necessarily be a replacement for the Express/Savana twins, but rather a midsize (rather than a fullsize) offering. It could even be the vehicle for which GM is acquiring the Citi Express trademark. However, the present Vivaro is much larger than something like Ford’s Transit Connect and the WSJ has reported that The General has no plans to compete in the compact van segment.
Yet even if GM is, indeed, testing the Vivaro for eventual sale in North America (for whatever segment or customer), we wonder why it’s doing so now — as the Vivaro in its current form has been in production since 2001, and is slated to be replaced for the 2014 model year. For its part, Opel has already committed its Luton plant in England to build the next-gen Vivaro. As such, it could be that GM is simply testing the next-gen Vivaro using the body of the current van; this theory makes the most sense to us, given that GM is looking to increase the globalization of its vehicles while reducing complexity. But where would that leave GM’s new alliance with Peugeot-Citroen, which has its own line of van offerings? Of course, there’s the possibility that we’re reading too much into this, and the Vivaro seen here was simply an imported unit…
What do you make of the spotting of this Euro-only van (with testing equipment) in the States? Sound off in the comments below.
Opel-Vauxhall Vivaro Background Info
The Vivaro full-size van was born thanks to a joint venture between Opel/GM and Renault. It was designed and engineered by Renault in France, and is manufactured by Vauxhall in England and by Renault in Spain. Renault’s version of the Vivaro is sold as the Traffic, while Nissan’s is called Primastar. The vehicle is offered in panel and passenger van configurations while offering a choice of two 2.0 liter diesel engines mated to either a six-speed manual and automatic transmission. The powertrains fit the Euro 5 emission standard.
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Comments
GM certainly can’t use Peugeot large and small vans in NA due to that fact that they are designed by/with Fiat and will be in NA as Ram.
Opel Movano has a chance but i think Renault/Nissan are not letting it happen (maybe?) and I wonder why Nissan designed their own van for NA and not use Movano?
Maybe GM should just design a brand new van perhaps with Peugeot and make it a global van, have lots of models for every job purpose and sell it across the globe as Chevrolet, GMC, Opel, Vauxhall, Holden, and Peugeot.
I think that van is probably just a personal import. Or maybe ii’s a German or other European embassy vehicle. GM is truly up shit’s creek with these vans. The unbridled arrogance of the truck division designers and engineers have led GM down this road. Now we the public have old outdated vans and new outdated pickups to contend with in the lineup. Right now GM trucks aren’t doing anything for me and I probably wouldn’t buy one, to be honest.
Richard — agreed. But let’s not pass final judgement until we see the all-new trucks, which we will see this December.
Fair enough, Alex. But I can’t help but being VERY upset with GM about this. They got everything else so right. I’ve been paying attention to various GM and non-GM boards and the feelings regarding new GM products has never been as mixed with such a high percentage of negative responses as they have been with these trucks. GM corporate needs to rein in the truck division guys the way they did with the car division guys. Bob Lutz needs to give them a talking to.
Richard, I am afraid your assumption is wrong. I remember I saw two of these Opel vans are waiting to be tested in GM’s Automotive Center of Excellence back in October when UOIT is hosting an open house event back in October. By the way, the center is owned by the school but mostly GM will send their cars to there for testing.
That’s not an embassy license plate, which is white characters on a red plate in Ontario.
What I cannot see is if it is a personal vehicle: blue characters on a white plate; commercial vehicle: black characters on a white plate; or, dealership vehicle: red characters on a white plate.
It looks like red characters on a white plate to me. (Of course, we’re assuming that this vehicle isn’t visiting Ontario from another province).
That’s the dealer plate, I am sure.
No interest from Nissan to market this van here. Doubt Fiat has any interest either. So if GM is going to do it, it will have to do it on its own.
Gawd knows that the Express like the E series is so far over its sell by date. At least the E series replacement is here.
I think that the Opel Vivaro will also recreate the moment when it is very fashionable and popular
VIVARO OPC
http://robson.m3rlin.org/cars/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/opel-vivaro-vpc-2008-3.jpg
http://robson.m3rlin.org/cars/2008-opel-vivaro-vpc-concept-car/
FORD TRANTSIT ST
http://www.leewayvancentre.co.uk/stock/images/1167
it is a verry good cars but wenn you will flan the cars you dont change the systeme off payement(a light systeme) with under soscieti
Good catch ……………………….
OK, it’s a van — it’s purpose is utility, not appearance ….BUT….but oh boy is that thing ugly, and the interior looks cheap….
What on earth is GM gonna do when the T-Series Ford is all over town? Delivery trucks, utility trucks – America is in need of fresh blood in the van market and
it’s astonishing GM’s ridden the Chicken Tax truck for so many decades.
Sprinters are all over from Fed Ex to airporters and they’d be more prevalent if the
Chicken Tax didn’t force Mercedes to build them in Germany before they tore them
down to be rebuilt in the USA. Ford finally realized a global van was needed and
Sprinters were the key size for 80% of the requirements for commercial vans. The
platforms are also sold to Winnebago and the plethora of U.S. RV builders who
are stone desperate for a recreational vehicle foundation that isn’t a gas-sucking
beast like what they have now.
Ford’s gonna take advantage of this great need in the market and GM is gonna
try and sell these tinny Renault’s to us?!!! This truly is an area where the General
has been asleep at the wheel.
I have checked with my contacts at Vauxhall and you are right GM Canada are testing the new model using the old body with the new drivetrain. Evaluations are being done for possible sales of the new van for the Canadian and US markets (as well as Australia apparently) starting in 2015. The same applies to the current Vauxhall Movano for the same reasons. There are no conflicts with PSA as the van deal with Renault is said to be completely standalone in the same way the Combo deal is with Fiat.
http://www.opel.ie/vehicles/opel_range/vans/vivaro/gallery/interior-views.html#galleryitem01
the ride is very comfortable with them and considering that this van is also very old. updates the model did, however, have now been completed.
And you can also choose from a lot of accessories that makes the car
http://www.carsession.com/photos/opel/opel-vivaro-e-concept-4.jpg.html
VAN OF THE YEAR 2002
I know commercial vans aren’t bought based on their looks, but man that thing is gruesome to behold! Hopefully the replacement will be a leap forward. GM certainly needs to get a small commercial van here. The Ford Transit Connect is serving a small market now, but that market will grow a lot over time as business owners want something that can do light work without being a pig on gas. I’d say make a commercial version of the Orlando, but I bet the payload would be next to nothing. GM must have a small van somewhere that is decent and not outdated?
Europe is considered täjtsaks the appearance and comfort of such vans.
must be comfortable working, the health of everything useful when van is comfortable and provides the employee as well as good.
But tastes are different and will remain different.
At first she did not like me very well, however, and now like so many have been cars.Algul it was too futuristic to become more familiar with today, and has been like this. Vans of various kinds of equipment, and one can be even more pleasant in appearance and intrinsically teha.On very beautiful and such tavalisi.Ma can think of is tuned to factory condition, Vans machines + Alloys as many cars as their formats differ in plant equipment konditisoonis prettier and the ugliest.
This picture is a really ugly but it is also from the old van and
http://suchen.mobile.de/auto-inserat/peugeot-boxer-rumia/168932512.html?lang=de&pageNumber=31&__lp=37&scopeId=C&sortOption.sortBy=price.consumerGrossEuro&makeModelVariant1.makeId=19300&makeModelVariant1.modelId=25&makeModelVariant1.searchInFreetext=false&makeModelVariant2.searchInFreetext=false&makeModelVariant3.searchInFreetext=false&makeModelVariantExclusion1.searchInFreetext=false&negativeFeatures=EXPORT
These now come to us and they are pretty decent. a variety of ways such vans (length-height-power-supply and so on
Can it hold an 4 x 8 sheet of T&G without ruining the edge?
Graw — not sure about the midsize Vivaro, but I’m sure the full size Movano can without any problems.
That’s what I worry about…albiet a pet peave.
For me, a 4×8 being loading into a van is best laid down flat, not on it’s edge. Keeps the centre of gravity low, protects the edges, and eliminates the chance of load shifting.
Historically, the vans made by the D3 were engineered with this in mind and the 4×8 standard remains to this day. It also dictated the phyical size and powertrains of them in contrast to their European counterparts.
It worries me somewhat. A van an intened for north american tradeworkers may not be better served by Vivano’s if they can’t meet the 4 x 8 standard.
Sure, a 4×8 load could be positioned upright against the pillars if the Vivano’s track was too narrow. You can do the same in an Express, but even I wouldn’t do it if made the vehicle handle poorly.
Understood. I don’t think you’ll have any problem fitting said 4×8 into the much bigger Movano… that begs the question though — what market is the Vivaro supposed to serve?
What ever hole was left behind from the Astro?
Admitatly, the Astro has been gone for years, but even the SWB Express took up the slack. Beyond that, I can’t see what else the Vivano could do, apart from being more car like and less truck like…that may appeal to some, but it isn’t going to set the van world on fire.
Possibility: Mid-size van revival.
Longshot: Express/Savana replacement.
That’s my answer.
Anyone ever seen one of these Vivaro’s for sale in Canada? Maybe not the smartest choice to spend the money on one but I really like the styling on them.