RHD Meriva debuts in UK

The Opel-designed Meriva has been officially unveiled in Britain wearing Vauxhall badges -- with the steering wheel on the right side of the cabin. What you see in the pictures here is the final production version featuring passenger access via rear 'suicide doors' -- or 'FlexDoors' as Vauxhall prefers. 

We brought you spy pics of the pre-production model about 12 months ago and reported the concept unveiled in Geneva a year before that, on the basis that the Meriva stood a chance of reaching Australia. That was before Holden decided it would cease importing Opels around the time General Motors offered up the German subsidiary for sale.

"There's no current plan to introduce the Meriva to Holden's small-car portfolio," confirmed Holden spokesman Jonathan Rose, when asked by the Carsales Network earlier today. Rose couldn't say with any certainty, but any discussion by management and product planning boffins concerning Holden's prospective importation of the Meriva would have likely canvassed the car's landed cost and market appeal in Australia -- and that would have been before GM began making sounds about flogging off Opel and Vauxhall. GM has since back-tracked on that plan to sell its European subsidiaries, but plainly, based on Rose's statement, Holden is no closer to importing the Meriva.

Vauxhall's press kit for the five-seat Meriva reveals that the FlexDoors at the rear open nearly 90 degrees, easing access to the rear seat of the car. Access is also aided by the Meriva's high roof and 'H-point'. Vauxhall argues that entering the rear of the car adjacent the B pillar is easier, because there's more vertical room between the floor and the roof there than adjacent the C pillar, where passengers would enter a car with conventional rear doors.

The design brief for this set-up also considers parents' need to load toddlers into child safety seats without having to contort themselves in through a conventional door. In other words, the Meriva offers significant ergonomic benefits for parents with young children.

For those who can enter and exit a vehicle under their own steam, Vauxhall claims it's easier from the rear of the Meriva, because you can directly step up and forward out of the seat and onto the footpath -- rather than lift oneself out of the seat and then manoeuvre sideways out of the car. And the same applies in reverse when taking a seat in the rear of the Meriva.

Our one query is this: if the FlexDoors work so well for the rear seat, why not adopt them for the front seating positions also? Vauxhall's answer to that is one for the parents again. It's easier to slip out of the front seat, reach around and open the rear door for faster access to Junior. The front and rear doors create what Vauxhall describes as a 'parent-friendly' zone.

Rear outboard seats can adjust independently of each other, freeing up more luggage space, as needs be. Vauxhall claims the luggage capacity of the Meriva can range from 400 litres to 920 litres with the rear seats folded. Loading the vehicle to the roof with the rear seats folded -- as opposed to the windowline only -- the Meriva provides a volume of 1500 litres.

Front-seat occupants can avail themselves of the 'FlexRail' modular storage system which enables receptacles to be relocated along a three-tier, dual-rail system. Further space up front is liberated by the use of an electronic parking brake. Additionally, the car will accommodate 1.5-litre bottles in each of the front doors.

For the Brits, the Meriva is powered by three different versions of a DOHC 1.4-litre petrol four or two diesels, displacing 1.3 litres or 1.7. Power ranges from 74kW for the basic naturally-aspirated petrol engine to 103kW for the more powerful of two turbocharged petrol engines. The diesels are rated at 55kW for the 1.3 and 74kW for the 1.7. All five engines comply with Euro5 emissions standards. With the exception of the top-spec turbo petrol (103kW) engine, the petrol Meriva variants feature a five-speed manual transmission. The 103kW Meriva drives through a six-speed manual. Diesel engines are coupled to a six-speed automatic transmission. Vauxhall plans to introduce two further diesel variants later this year.

The new Meriva replaces an earlier car of the same name. Both vehicles are based on the Corsa platform, the Corsa being the car that in its current iteration didn't come to Australia as Holden's TK Barina. With the new-generation Meriva moving up in size, Vauxhall and Opel intend to compete with 'mini MPV' rivals such as the Ford C-Max, Citroen C4 Picasso and Renault Scenic.

Meriva's model range in Britain will be based around four levels of trim: Expression, S, Exclusiv and SE. It's the Meriva S that scores the side-impact airbags and upgraded seven-speaker audio system with USB port. Exclusiv and SE variants provide buyers the options of different interior trim colour and materials. In addition, Meriva Exclusiv adds air conditioning and cruise control while the Meriva SE picks up trip computer and ambient cabin lighting.

Vauxhall has gone a bit 'Flex-happy' with the Meriva, naming anything that adjusts in multiple ways 'Flex-something'. The doors are 'FlexDoors', the storage system for front-seat occupants is 'FlexRail', modular seating is 'FlexSpace' and the optional built-in bike carrier is 'FlexFix'.

But at the end of the day, perhaps that can be forgiven in a car that introduces a new level of practicality in the low end of the market. And there's nothing like it in the local 'light-car' VFACTS segment.

So what do you think? For the right price, would you have bought one? Should Holden look at the sums again?

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