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Opel's Meriva mini MPV has popped up again, right in front of the lensmen at Carparazzi.

And, once again, suggestions of "suicide" rear-hinged back doors, as seen on the concept car revealed at the 2008 Geneva motor show, prevail.

Maybe the obvious concealment on the back doors of the bright red test mule is simply intended to tease, but there appears every chance the stepped-down side window line and forward-placed back door handles could be an actuality.

Certainly the bulges underneath the cladding indicate something significant is going on.

The safety challenges are not unsurmountable, even if the back doors -- like the Geneva concept and unlike similar applications such as on the Mazda RX-8 and even the Rolls-Royce Phantom -- open independently of the front doors, up to an angle of 90 degrees.

The payoff is unmatched easy access to the back seats.

The current five-passenger Meriva is a far more conservative design than the next-generation model and is based on the same platform as the Opel Corsa (nee Holden Barina).

It was introduced in Europe in 2002 and is available with 1.3-litre petrol and 1.8-litre petrol or turbodiesel engines.

Locally, Holden has said it is too early to speculate on whether or not the new model would come to Australia.