AIMS: Opel Oz wants Cascada

Opel Australia is pushing for the Cascada convertible to come to Australia, local MD Bill Mott revealed to the press at the Australian International Motor Show this morning.

"We think [it's] an outstanding looking vehicle; we will raise our hands for it and do the analysis of that vehicle," Mr Mott told journalists in Sydney. "Beyond when it might come here, [how] it will be priced, we have a lot of homework to do... but we're definitely interested in the vehicle."

Cascada is the latest in a long line of vehicles potentially available for Opel to sell here, but not set in concrete for local release. The reasons vary as to why cars such as the Meriva, the Adam, Zafira and Mokka are absent from local showrooms, but mostly they boil down to whether a business case exists. Mr Mott would welcome the Adam here and believes that the MINI/Fiat 500/Audi A1 rival could actually build brand recognition for Opel in Australia. But the problem lies in whether customers for the car would pay the asking price and be prepared to wait months to take delivery of a car heavily customised to their liking.

"There are some things we've got to work through," he said, "and we're very keen to analyse them more. We're not closing the door on the Adam, but it's not for the very short term. We haven't done all the math on it yet, honestly..."

The picture emerging is that Opel has its mainstream, volume-selling cars such as Corsa, Astra and Insignia, but building a solid business case for the other cars in the product range is tough for a small player in a competitive market like Australia. When even a well-established brand like Ford won't bring in its small, practical Euro-designed MPV, the B-Max, Opel can hardly be blamed for not wanting to bring in the Ford's rival, the Meriva. Even for a smaller importer, which could benefit from incremental sales growth, Meriva is a hard case to justify.

"When I first came here I was all guns for the Meriva," Mr Mott said. "It's just such an outstanding and innovative vehicle; it says lots about our brand... but when you look at the segment and just how much [sales] volume we could hope to achieve with it, it becomes a bit more problematic."

There's no doubt in Mr Mott's mind that the first company to bring in a small, family-oriented MPV like the Meriva could reap the benefits by having a unique selling proposition and a full market niche to itself.

"Unquestionable," he replied. "It all just comes down to how big is that segment; you'd almost have to create it."

And even if a company had pockets deep enough to create such a niche – and Opel doesn't seem to be that company – there's also the risk that the Meriva could steal sales from Mokka... or vice versa.

"It's again this question back to just how many battles and how many fronts do you want to fight at once," says Mr Mott.

And what of the Mokka? The Opel version of the Chevrolet/Holden Trax is also a Corsa/Barina-based compact SUV, and a much better prospect for Australia than the Meriva – but when?

"Another vehicle that we're obviously very keen to have – sooner [rather] than later... we're doing all the necessary groundwork to get the vehicles, and hope to make some announcements relatively soon," Mr Mott said, but he couldn't provide any clearer indication on timing or providence. If the Opel MD had his choice, however, he would be fast-tracking the Mokka of all the Opel products that are up in the air.

"If I could pick it off the shelf tomorrow, given the growth in the marketplace, it would be an SUV. That would be the logical answer... whether, from the timing perspective we can do that is another issue. If I had my druthers and they were all on the shelf in a supermarket I'd love to have the Mokka."

Head to www.motoring.com.au for full 2012 AIMS photo gallery from the Australian International Motor Show

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