Yesterday we brought you news that Vauxhall was reviving the Viva name for a new, budget-minded city car with the announcement that Opel would not be using the name for its version. Today we can reveal that Opel's version of the five-door entry level car will be (drumroll please...) the Opel Ka... No not Kadett as we had hoped, but the Opel Karl.
Amazingly the car is not named after Opel's current boss, Karl-Thomas Neumann, which would be kind of cool, as it would open the door for a Volkswagen Martin (Winterkorn) and Renault Carlos (Ghosn), but instead the first born son of Adam Opel. You may remember that the Opel Adam, which will sit above the Karl in Opel's line-up, was named after the company founder.
"Karl is a short, snappy and catchy name that represents Opel brand values: German, emotional and approachable," said Tina Müller, Chief Marketing Officer at Opel.
Anything else?
Size wise, at 3.68 metres the Karl will sit just below the 3.7-metre long Adam, but will be exclusively a five-door with seating for four- or five occupants. Expected to be revealed at the Geneva Motor Show next spring before appearing in dealerships during the summer, the Karl seems likely to have its eyes set on the likes of the Hyundai i10 and Kia Picanto with a low price point, which does not mean scrimping on features.