With the Meriva Concept, Opel presents the next level of monocab flexibility at the International Motor Show in Geneva (March 6 – 16, 2008). The vision of a future small monocab – a segment that the current Meriva has led since its launch in 2003 –boasts more than just new design cues: “We’re unveiling an innovative approach for even greater flexibility in Opel monocabs,” says Alain Visser, Chief Marketing Officer, GM Europe, before the concept’s debut in Geneva.
With the Zafira’s Flex7 seating system and the Meriva’s FlexSpace concept, we began a new era in interior variability and permanently changed the world of the automobile.” With Zafira, Meriva and soon Agila, Opel is enjoying great success with its monocab design – body models where the hood and trunk are not visibly separate from the cabin. Almost 335,000 segment-leading Zafira and Meriva models were sold in 2007. Every fifth Opel model sold today is a monocab, while in the whole market the quota is just every eighth car.
The Meriva Concept transfers the brand’s new design language to a small monocab and enhances it further. The side profile boasts the distinctive tick-shaped swage line, which was a typical design cue which appeared on the GTC Coupé and Flextreme concepts. Especially eye-catching is the sweep in the window line level at the B-pillar, enabling an especially good view for rear passengers. Rear section elements – in particular the rear lights – echo the Insignia, Opel’s new mid-size class car due to be launched in the fall. The monocab’s roof sloping gently downward toward the rear underlines the car’s dynamic character.
