The Opel Meriva is a car manufactured and marketed by the German automaker

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Grou ...

on its Corsa platform, from May 2003 until June 2017 across two generations. Described as a

mini MPV Mini MPV— an abbreviation for mini multi-purpose vehicle— is a vehicle size class for the smallest size of minivans/MPVs. The mini MPV size class sits below the compact MPV size class and the vehicles are often built on the platforms of B-se ...

, it was marketed as the

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...

Meriva in the United Kingdom, while in Latin America, the first generation model was marketed as the Chevrolet Meriva. __TOC__

First generation (2003)

The first generation, named the Meriva A, was based on the third generation

Opel Corsa C The Opel Corsa is a supermini car engineered and produced by the German automobile manufacturer Opel since 1982. Throughout its existence, it has been sold under a variety of other brands owned by General Motors (most notably Vauxhall, Chevr ...

. It went on sale in May 2003. The first official pictures of the Meriva were released in August 2002. It has been described as a

, a supermini-MPV, a small

people carrier Minivan (sometimes called simply as van) is a North American car classification for vehicles designed to transport passengers in the rear seating row(s), with reconfigurable seats in two or three rows. The equivalent classification in Europe is ...

, and an

estate car A station wagon ( US, also wagon) or estate car ( UK, also estate), is an automotive body-style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door ( ...

. Like its larger counterpart, the Zafira, the Meriva had a flexible interior, marketed as ''FlexSpace''. Although it only had five seats divided into two rows, the second row could slide forward or backward, or be flattened into the floor, making a flat, level platform for increased boot space. The second row could accommodate two or three passengers. In the two passenger mode, the seats were separated from the doors and from each other much like the front seats. In three passenger mode, the back seat looked like a regular one piece seat. The front seat could be pushed fully backwards. The Meriva was sold in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

(except in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

) from 2003 through 2012 (2013 in Argentina) as the Chevrolet Meriva, where it was replaced in 2012 by the

Chevrolet Spin The Chevrolet Spin is a mini MPV produced by General Motors under the Chevrolet marque. Developed by GM do Brasil, the vehicle replaced the Meriva and Zafira in South America with an option of two-row and three-row seating. It is produced in ...

. The initial version had been co-developed by Opel and

General Motors do Brasil General Motors do Brasil is the largest subsidiary of General Motors in South America, one of the oldest and largest car producers in Brazil. Founded in 1925 and initially located in the historic district of Ipiranga, São Paulo, the company a ...

. It was built in

São José dos Campos São José dos Campos (, meaning Saint Joseph of the Fields) is a major city and the seat of the Municipalities of Brazil, municipality of the same name in the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Brazil. One of the leading industrial and res ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. File:Opel Meriva rear 20071126.jpg, Rear view File:Opel Meriva A 1.8 Cosmo Facelift front 20100716.jpg, Opel Meriva (2006–2009) File:Opel Meriva A 1.8 Cosmo Facelift rear 20100716.jpg, Rear view File:Opel Meriva OPC front Facelift.jpg, Opel Meriva ''OPC'' (2006–2009) File:Opel Meriva OPC (18205179538).jpg, Opel Meriva ''OPC'' (2006–2009) File:2005 Vauxhall Meriva Enjoy Twinport 1.4.jpg, Vauxhall Meriva File:2010 Vauxhall Meriva Design facelift 1.4.jpg, Vauxhall Meriva (facelift)

Engines

Initial launch

From launch, there were three petrol engines and one diesel engine. In 2005, the 1.6 8v petrol engine was replaced with a more powerful and efficient 1.4 engine. The 1.6 Turbo was available with a six speed manual gearbox as standard, and the other engines had a five speed manual gearbox as standard. The 1.6 (16v) and 1.8 petrols were available with a five speed '

Easytronic Easytronic is the Opel tradename for a type of transaxle-based automated manual transmission or gearbox, as used in some Opel/Vauxhall cars. Easytronic is not a tiptronic gearbox design; it does not have a torque converter. It is fundamental ...

' gearbox as an option. Petrol 1.0 *1.4

TWINPORT In internal combustion engines, a variable-length intake manifold (VLIM),variable intake manifold (VIM), or variable intake system (VIS) is an automobile internal combustion engine manifold technology. As the name implies, VLIM/VIM/VIS can vary ...

, with (since 2005) *1.6 (8v), with *1.6 (16v), with *1.8, with Both 1.4 and 1.8 were available as flexfuel in Brazil. Diesel *1.7 CDTI, with

Facelift

Petrol *1.4

, with *1.6

*1.8, with *1.6 Turbo, with (OPC/VXR model only) Diesel *1.3 CDTI, with *1.7 CDTI, with *1.7 CDTI, with

Facelift

When the Meriva was facelifted in February 2006, the front and rear ends were revised, and three new/revised engines came along as well as an extra trim level, the OPC/

VXR VXR is the branding for the high performance trim specification, used since 2004 for models in many of Vauxhall's car range in the United Kingdom. Holden has also used the VXR badge for some of its high-performance cars such as the Astra VXR, I ...

Safety

The Meriva in its standard European configuration received 4 stars for adult occupants and 1 star for pedestrians from

Euro NCAP The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) is a European voluntary car safety performance assessment programme (i.e. a New Car Assessment Program) based in Leuven (Belgium) formed in 1996, with the first results released in February ...

in 2003. The Meriva in its most basic Latin American configuration with 1 airbag received 3 stars for adult occupants and 1 star for toddlers from

Latin NCAP The Latin New Car Assessment Programme (Latin NCAP) is an automobile safety assessment programme for Latin America and the Caribbean. Founded in 2010, it offers independent information to consumers about the safety levels of new cars in the ...

in 2010.

Second generation (2010)

The second generation, named the Meriva B, is slightly larger in size than the previous generation. It has been described as a

compact MPV Compact MPV (an abbreviation for Compact Multi-Purpose Vehicle) is a vehicle size class for the middle size of MPVs. The Compact MPV size class sits between the mini MPV and large MPV (minivan) size classes. Compact MPVs remain predominantly a ...

, a supermini-MPV, a small people carrier, a small family car, and an estate car. The market launch took place on 12 June 2010. The Meriva B appeared in November 2009. The new model is in length, up from the of the previous version, which was based on the Corsa. The new model uses revised suspension layout from the former version but with a floorpan associated with the seven seater Zafira Tourer. The interior is similar to that of the 2009 to 2015 Astra and Insignia. The new Meriva uses front seat technology from the

Insignia An insignia () is a sign or mark distinguishing a group, grade, rank, or function. It can be a symbol of personal power or that of an official group or governing body. On its own, an insignia is a sign of a specific or general authority and is ...

and Astra. The seat adjustment range is in length and in height. The Meriva B debuted at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show in March, and went into production in July 2010. The Meriva has rear-hinged rear doors, marketed as "FlexDoors". A panoramic sunroof is also available as standard on the top spec versions. The Meriva B ended production in June 2017, and was replaced by an urban crossover named the Crossland X, and also a transition from MPV to SUV design, sister of the future replacement of the

Citroën C3 Picasso The Citroën C3 Picasso is a car produced by the French motor company Citroën from 2008–2017. It has a five-door mini MPV design and was first unveiled at the 2008 Paris Motor Show as a concept car named "Drooneel". The Picasso is the mini ...

. File:Opel Meriva 1.4 Design Edition (B) – Heckansicht, 11. März 2012, Heiligenhaus.jpg, Meriva B (rear view) File:2011 Vauxhall Mervia SE 1.4 Front.jpg, Vauxhall Meriva B File:Vauxhall Meriva Concept - Flickr - Alan D (2).jpg, Opel Meriva B Concept File:Opel Meriva FlexDoors 2012.jpg, Meriva's FlexDoors, Salón del automóvil de Santiago 2012, Chile

Engines

From launch, the Meriva was available with five engines (three petrol, two diesel). The 1.7 diesel was only available with a six speed automatic gearbox, and the 1.4 turbo (140 PS) and 1.7 (130 hp) were only available with a six speed manual gearbox. Since September 2010, two more engines became available, both diesel, the 1.3 (95 hp) and the 1.7 (130 hp). All petrol engines are

Ecotec Ecotec (capitalized ECOTEC, from 'Emissions Control Optimization TEChnology') is a General Motors (GM) and Opel Automobile GmbH (Opel) trademark that refers to a series of emissions technologies that were implemented throughout a range of GM engines ...

. From 2011, Stop/Start was added to certain engines (engines with (S/S) are bold in column), a cleaner, more powerful 1.7 CDTI auto was added, and the petrol engines became slightly more efficient. A six speed automatic gearbox became available for the 1.4T (120) petrol engine. In January 2014. Opel introduced newly developed engine with restyled Meriva: 1.6 CDTI engine with 95 PS, 110 PS, and 136 PS.

Safety

The Meriva in its standard European configuration received 5 stars from

in 2010.

Facelift

A facelifted version was presented as a world premiere at the Brussels International Motor Show in January 2014. It was also presented at the

Frankfurt Motor Show The International Motor Show Germany or International Mobility Show Germany, in German known as the ''Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung'' (''IAA'' – International Automobile Exhibition), is one of the world's largest mobility shows. It cons ...

in September 2013. File:Meriva B Facelift Front.jpg, Opel Meriva (facelift) File:Meriva B Facelift Heck.jpg, Rear view File:2017 Vauxhall Meriva Life 1.4.jpg, Vauxhall Meriva (facelift)

References

External links

New Vauxhall Meriva review
{{Chevrolet (South America) timeline 1980 to date Meriva Euro NCAP small MPVs Latin NCAP small MPVs Mini MPVs Compact MPVs Station wagons Front-wheel-drive vehicles Cars introduced in 2003 2010s cars

First generation (2003)

Engines

Initial launch

Facelift

Facelift

Safety

Second generation (2010)

Engines

Safety

Facelift

See also

References

External links