New Opel Meriva MPV Spotted Out in the Open

True, GM's European arm has officially revealed the new Opel Meriva but we couldn't pass the opportunity to share with you these 'real-life' photographs of the small MPV that was bagged by our man with the long lens in Germany. You can read the full story on the 2010 Meriva here, but as a reminder, Opel's Citroen C3 Picasso rival that features rear-hinged back doors will make its first public outing at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

At launch, it will be marketed with six engines offering a power bandwidth from 75 HP to 140 HP and a choice of 5 and 6-speed manual transmissions (depending on the engine) as well as a 6-speed automatic gearbox

According to Opel, fuel consumption has been reduced by an average of 15 percent compared with the current generation Meriva.

Designed and developed at Opel's engineering center in Rüsselsheim, Germany, the new Meriva will be built at GM's plant in Zaragoza, Spain and is scheduled to go on sale across Europe this summer.

2010 Opel Meriva MPV First Photographs - Snapped Completely Undisguised!

Just last week, we brought you a set of photos showing the new Opel Meriva small MPV with its rear-hinged back doors wide open. Now this time, our man with the long lens has really outdone himself snagging a 2010 Meriva test car without a single trace of camouflage! These new pictures give us our best look at the five-seater minivan that's clearly inspired by the 2008 Meriva concept while sharing many styling cues with both the Insignia and the new Astra hatchback.

Aside from suicide rear doors with the front-mounted handles that are said to open to a 90-degree angle to the body, another distinguishing feature of the new Meriva is its unusual glasshouse design that incorporates a downward kink at the back doors just behind the B-pillar.

Although we don't have any photos of the Meriva's front end, previous spy shots suggest a similar treatment to the latest Astra with wing-shaped headlights and Opel's family grille.

In other aspects, the new Meriva will be slightly longer than the current model while engine choices at launch will include 1.4-liter and 1.6-liter naturally aspirated gasoline units with outputs of 100HP and 115HP respectively as well as GM's new 140HP 1.4-liter turbo. The diesel lineup will most likely comprise of 1.3-liter, 1.7-liter and 2.0-liter CDTIs.

Designed to compete against small MPVs like the Citroen C3 Picasso and Kia Venga, the Opel / Vauxhall Meriva is expected to make its world premiere at next March's Geneva Salon with European sales following shortly after.

SCOOP: New Opel Meriva MPV Caught with its Rear Suicide Doors Wide Open!

No more hiding and trick camouflage for the new Meriva as our spies finally managed to snap Opel's new small MPV with its rear-hinged back doors open wide confirming once and for all that the production model will indeed keep the 'FlexDoors' of the 2008 Geneva Show concept car. Both rear doors of the five-seater MPV will open a full 90 degrees away from the body but unlike most models with suicide style back doors, the Meriva maintains a central B-pillar.

It is expected that like the concept model, passengers can open the rear doors even when the front doors are closed but only when the vehicle is stationary.

A closer look at the spy photos reveals that the 2010 Meriva, which will be sold in Great Britain with the Vauxhall logo, will be fitted with three individual seats at the rear that can be separately folded down to increase luggage capacity or/and pushed inwards and backwards to create more legroom.

Albeit toned down, the production model's exterior styling remains close to that of the 2008 concept. Even the unusual kink in the rear window line that promises to improve the view of the rear passengers has been retained. The Meriva also incorporates plenty of design cues from both the new Astra and Insignia.

Earlier spy shots suggest that the Meriva will get a dashboard similar in design to the one found in the latest Astra with four deeply placed gauges in the instrument cluster.

Based on a slightly larger platform with a longer wheelbase and wider tracks than the current model, the new Meriva will benefit from the 2010 Astra's revised engine lineup.

The gasoline range will include 1.4-liter and 1.6-liter naturally aspirated engines with outputs of 100HP and 115HP respectively as well as GM's new 1.4-liter turbocharged producing 140HP. A sporty OPC version with a 1.6-liter turbo pushing out 180HP or more will also be offered at a later stage.

As for the diesel lineup, the initial range is expected to include 1.3-liter, 1.7-liter and 2.0-liter CDTIs.

With the Frankfurt Motor Show long gone, the world debut of the Meriva will most likely take place at next year's Geneva Salon in March, before going on sale across Europe at the end of Spring.

Reader Scoops 2010 Opel Astra Test Car in Michigan

This past weekend, eagle-eyed julino billym reader Thomas Czarny picked up these shots of a heavily disguised 2010 Opel Astra hatchback prototype in a shopping mall parking lot in Traverse City, Michigan. The test car was fitted with manufacturer license plates and sported a GMPT (General Motors Powertrain) Engineering Vehicle sticker on the front windshield.

We're fully aware of the fact that new cars go through all sorts of tests in various places around the world including markets where they will not be sold, but we also know that GM is preparing an Opel Astra based small sedan for Buick which is scheduled to go on sale in the States by the end of 2011.

Earlier this year, our spy photographers snapped the Buick four-door sedan along with a five-door Astra prototype sporting Buick's corporate waterfall grille while undergoing testing in Germany.

Although the five-door model is said to be under development for Buick's Chinese market line-up, we can't entirely rule out the possibility that GM may also be considering the hatch for the U.S. where it would compete against the VW Golf and Mazda3.

This naturally brings us to the question, in addition to the sedan model, should GM also enhance Buick's U.S. range with a rebadged version of the 2010 Opel Astra hatchback?

Kudos to Thomas Czarny for the Scoop!

More Reader Spy Shots: Kia's Small MPV Snapped in the Czech Republic

julino billym readers Vladimir Pekulas and Jan Mlejnek bagged these shots of Kia's forthcoming mini-MPV on the highway near Mlada Boleslav in the Czech Republic. If you take a closer look at the pics after the jump, you'll see that the man sitting in the passenger's seat of the Kia test car retaliated against our readers by taking or pretending to take, photos of them also... But anyways, let's refresh our memory on Kia's new model which has yet to be named.

The five-seater MPV is in effect the production version of Kia's No3 Concept study that was shown for the first time in Geneva earlier this year. The Korean automaker's retort to the likes of the Honda Jazz, Opel Meriva and Citroen C3 Picasso uses the same architecture as the Kia Soul and Hyundai i20.

It is anticipated that the small MPV's engine range will comprise of 1.6-liter petrol and diesel units, both producing an output of 126HP, while certain markets may also receive a 115HP 1.6-liter diesel along with a range-topping 2.0-liter gasoline engine making 142HP.

Kia will most probably swoop the covers off the mini-MPV at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September with European sales set to start before the end of the year. Like the European market Cee'd, the MPV will be produced at the Hyundai Group's new plant in the Czech Republic.

"Děkuji" Vladimir Pekulas & Jan Mlejnek for the pics!