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| 2001-01-22 | |
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January 22, 2001
Rüsselsheim. The all-new Corsa Van – based on the recently launched third-generation Corsa – goes on sale in March 2001. The lively, three-door delivery van has a standard heavy-duty partition behind the front seats and – in some markets – sheet metal in place of the rear side windows. The load area has a capacity of 1000 liters (VDA standard). With its compact dimensions and a comfortable, spacious driver's cab, this agile new model is ideal for courier services and small businesses. It is available with a choice of three lively and economical four-cylinder engines: The 1.2-liter gasoline engine rated at 55 kW / 75 hp or the 1.7-liter direct-injection turbodiesel engine developing either 48 kW / 65 hp or 55 kW / 75 hp. Standard features include power steering and a driver's airbag as well as Active Head Restraints and Opel's patented pedal release system. Almost all the optional equipment available for the all-new Corsa can be ordered for the Corsa Van, too. Examples include air conditioning as well as state-of-the-art navigation and infotainment systems. Low Insurance Costs and Extended Service Intervals The lively city van's list of advantages includes low running costs (thanks to its moderate fuel consumption), a favorable insurance rating and extended service inter-vals (30,000 kilometers or one year). The Corsa Van is built in Azambuja, Portugal and comes with a 12-year anti-perforation warranty. Portugal is also the most impor-tant market for this compact transporter. It will also be available in France, Great Britain, Spain and Italy as well as in Central and East European markets. The three-door Corsa hatchback is the basis for the van. The difference is that the Corsa Van has no rear seats and, depending on the market, no rear side windows, so that it can be registered as a commercial vehicle at a reduced rate of tax in some countries. Despite its compact overall length of just 3.82 meters, the Corsa Van has a 1.40 m2 load bay. The maximum length of the load platform, which has standard retaining lugs and rubber mats, is 1.25 m and its maximum width 1.32 m. The payload load limit of the new Corsa Van, which with its 1.03-meter wide tailgate is convenient to load, is between 380 and 420 kilograms, depending on the engine size. A load retaining partition that goes up to the roof and does not limit the view to the rear is available upon request. DSA Chassis, Roomy Interior with Numerous Storage Compartments The Corsa Van's comfort and ergonomics match the high standards of its passenger-car sibling: the steering wheel, instruments, dashboard, seats and even the DSA chassis (Dynamic Safety) are the same. Drivers of this compact commercial vehicle will therefore benefit from the same convincing characteristics that helped the new Corsa to win a succession of comparative tests in the European motoring press directly after its launch. Business people who use it every day will appreciate the large number of storage spaces in the passenger compartment, including a drawer under the front passenger's seat, cup holders in the door trims and dashboard and holders for coins, sunglasses and pencils. Like the Corsa, the Corsa Van is a particularly safe compact-size model. Based as it is on a much more rigid body than its predecessor, safety features such as full-size air-bags (standard on the driver's side), seat belts with height adjustment and belt ten-sioners and Opel's Pedal Release system provide optimum protection. A passenger-side airbag is available as an option. The engines available for the new van are the 1.2-liter gasoline unit as installed in the Corsa and two 1.7-liter direct-injection turbodiesels. The Corsa Van is lively whichever engine is chosen – with the 1.2 16V gasoline unit and the charge-air intercooled 1.7 DTI 16V (both with 75 hp), it has a top speed of 170 km/h and covers the zero-to-100 km/h sprint in only 13 seconds. With the smaller, 65 hp direct-injection diesel, it has a top speed of 162 km/h and accelerates from zero to 100 km/h in 15.5 seconds. The low drag coefficient of cD = 0.32 helps to ensure that fuel consumption remains low despite these brisk maximum speeds: According to the MVEG standard test, the two diesels consume an average of just 4.7 liters of fuel per 100 kilo-meters. The gasoline engine, which already complies with the Euro 4 exhaust emission standard that will not come into force until 2005, has an economical average fuel con-sumption of 6.1 liters per 100 kilometers and is therefore ideal for commercial use as well. Opel has been the Market Leader in Portugal for Eight Years The Azambuja plant in Portugal, which has built about 800,000 vehicles since it was opened in 1963 and which is the only plant where the Corsa Van and the Opel Combo are built, has been considerably expanded and modernized. After investing 25 billion Escudos (125 million Euro), the annual capacity of the factory with its 1000 employees is now 70,000 vehicles in two shifts. A total of 75,324 units of the Corsa Van's predecessor were manufactured there. A considerable proportion of the current investment was devoted to the new paint shop, which now works in a more ecologically acceptable manner using water based paints, and to the installation of equipment that has raised the high quality standards still further. Opel has been number one or two on the Portuguese car market since 1992. | |
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