The Opel Vivaro commercial van may not be seen on our side of the Atlantic, but in Europe and elsewhere, the Vivaro is known for its combination of functionality, comfort, and attractive appearance that’s practically more car than truck. To 80,000 readers of the Spanish daily, The Economist, the Vivaro ranks as “Best Commercial Vehicle” in the paper’s Ecomotor awards.
“The new Vivaro arrives in a very competitive marketplace where customers, more than ever before, are looking for something in addition to a light commercial vehicle. They need a vehicle that is extremely flexible to use and able to operate as a tool for work as well as a private minivan. The new Vivaro range offers the perfect solution for these requirements. It is an important part of Opel’s new product offensive and will considerably reinforce our position in the light commercial vehicle and fleet segment,” said Sales, Marketing and Aftersales Director of Opel España, Enrico De Lorenzi, Sales, Marketing and Aftersales Director of Opel España.
The Vivaro’s style is a reflection of Opel’s award-winning design philosophy “Sculptural Artistry meets German Precision,” something that’s a twist to the usual in the light commercial vehicle segment. The contemporary and elegant exterior features a prominent grille, frontal styling, and characteristic “blade” side motifs that are shared with Opel’s other vehicles. Daytime running lights also incorporate Opel’s signature “wing” shape and are available with LED technology, which add to the Vivaro’s distinctive appearance.
With many variants that include increase load capacity, the Vivaro’s cabin includes state-of-the-art equipment such as Opel’s IntelliLink infotainment with an intuitive navigation system, plus other smart design solutions which quickly and easily help adapt the interior for mobile office use.
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Built at Luton with loving tender care in the UK by VAUXHALL
….with technology and greetings from RENAULT in FRANCE!
Sorry, just a joke 😉
J’adore votre sens de l’humour! lol
i like renault to. very strong and the history of the automaker. Design and technology is super. I like very much and I also had.
Though my soul belongs to the GM cars and Opel .
Renault makes a relly good job. The current lineup looks great but I think there is still a problem when it comes to quality feeling. The new Clio is -in my opinion- one of the best looking small cars but have you ever looked at the interior?
I also think it would have been better for Opel (Vauxhall) if the exterior and interior design would be more destinguishable from Renault. In fact the Trafic and Vivaro are nearly identical. Only some differences in the grille. So the Vivaro doesn’t look like an Opel. And that’s a problem for the brand. I think it would be better if Opel and GM would develop their own LCVs. There is also a market for those cars in NA. So Opel could develop such a car and it could be used by Chevy, GMC and/or Buick…
Actually GM were far more involved in the design of the new Vivaro than the last which is why it has the current signiture swage line down the side but you are right the front ends are almost identical, the decision was probably down to cost. It is ironic that up until the 1970s the Bedford division of Vauxhall in the UK was the worlds largest commercial vehicle manufacturer but due to a complete lack of investment by GM the whole operation was allowed to die and the Bedford brand was dropped altogether in the late 1980s. I also don’t really understand why the current Astra was not made into a van as the previous one was very popular (at least in the UK) and it would not have cost much to make, they could have also made a high roof version and saved doing the current deal with Fiat for the Combo.
Hi There German, Opel-Vauxhall / Renault-Nissan are not alone in sharing platform development, engines and major body panels.
Here in the USA we have the Nissan N200 and the Chevy ??
What about the Mercedes Sprinter / Volkswagen Crafter or Renault Kangoo / Mercedes Citan.
And then there is the Fiat-Ram Ducato / Citroen Relay – Peugeot Express quartet.
Or the Fiat Doblo / Opel-Vauxhall Combo.
In Europe, only Iveco (Daily) and Ford (Connect and Transit) seem to build their own commercial vehicles without partners.
It’s all about economies of scale. Popular vans do not shift the same volume as popular cars. Also their life-cycles tend to be much longer between generations.
On another point David 1256, actually in Eire the current Astra estate is available as a van, albeit as a 2-seater / 5-door. The load-bay is stripped-out of seats and is rubber-matted, though the full length headlining and door-trims remain. A wire mesh bulkhead separates the load-bay from the passenger compartment. The B & C side windows can be ordered with colour-coded vinyl application to match or left as plain glass. This is not a one-off ‘dealer special’, as it’s available from all Opel franchised dealers. – so must be built in batches at Ellesmere. Apparently popular with veterinarians and the like.
As I recall, this format of van is also popular in France, Spain and Portugal, usually with a large 80kph roundel on the tailgate.
As for the out-going Vivaro/Trafic/Primastar (still a great vehcle imho), after 13 years there is life in the old-girl yet. Apparently the body-presses and jigs are bound for India, and the model will resurface as a Tata in 2015! Tata currently builds the Mk1 Trafic/Arena van. Shades of the Vauxhall FE-VX reincarnation as a Hindustan Contessa !
@57apache
I am very aware of the fact that most car makers are cooperating in the LCV-Segment. It makes a lot of sense because of the small numbers of sale of these cars. But for example Mercedes Citan looks like a Mercedes. Same for Crafter and Sprinter. They look totally different, have their own exterior and interior.
What I simply ask is that Opel has to to offer LCVs which look like an Opel when it comes to the exterior and interior if Opel wants to grow in this segment. The current Combo is completely disaster, because it is only rebadged and doesn’t represent the brand’s design language and Quality Feeling (Sory Fiat!). It would have been better to offer no car in this segment than simply take a Fiat Doblo and put the Opel and Vauxhall badge on it.
So the next Combo will be based on a PSA platform and use PSA engines. I hope that Opel will at least give that car an own design and an Opel-interior.
Opel wants to grow more than 80% in the LCV Segment by 2022. To reach that aim Opel must offer more than simple rebadged cars.
I do believe the Astravan was dropped (after being around for 30+ years) because it potentaly could halm Astra’s upmarket status. Perhaps going full circle (HA van & Chevanne) we could see a Viva van in the future.
Hello again. I actually think the Vivaro does feature strong Opel design cues, especially from the side aspect. Also the prominent grille is reminiscent of Insignia, Adam and the latest Corsa E spy-shots. If anything, this time around it is the Renault Trafic that looks more like an Opel/Vauxhall. I personally like it a lot.
Differentiating Euro vans is always going to be a problem. They all have the same dimensions and proportions by class, and and are all designed to accommodate standard Euro-pallets between the wheel-arches. Here in the US the key-dimension is that the load-bay will accept a 6ft x 4ft sheet of ply-wood between the arches.
I do agree that GM should adopt a global van policy based on the Vivaro, Movano and Combo. GM has really dropped the ball by not bringing these Euro-models to the Americas. Daimler-Chrysler (as it was then) led the way 12 years ago with the Freightliner Sprinter, later to become Ram Sprinter, and finally now Mercedes! Ford has brought us the Connect and now the Transit. Ram now has the Promaster/Ducato and will soon have its version of the Doblo.
I give the traditional US style Ford Econoline and Chevy Express/GMC Savana another 3-5 years at most, by which time the Sprinter, Transit and Promaster will dominate the market. GM will be too late to the party … AGAIN!
Vauxhall have announced prices & specifications for the Vivaro in the UK with prices starting at £450 LESS than the outgoing model as well as an improved trim levels – full details on vauxpedia.net
Maybe in the future GM can have one vehicle coving both Vivaro & Movano ranges like the old Bedford CF did I don’t get why there needs to be two models
Vivaro is front-wheel-drive only. Movano is both front or rear-wheel-drive. It can also be specified with double rear-wheels for heavy-duty work.
New Transit also now has two distinct platforms and body-styles in the same vein.
Clearly it gives them far more flexibility to cover broader specialist vehicle uses. Going back a couple of generations … remember the LDV-Daf Sherpa/Convoy. Both shared the same styling, but the latter ate all the pies!