Sharpened-up Opel Corsa on its way to South Africa

Still fresh despite its world debut having taken place in May, Stellantis South Africa has confirmed that exports of the facelift Opel Corsa to markets in the Middle East and Africa officially commenced in October ahead of sales starting within the next weeks.

What’s new?

Revealed four years ago, but only in South Africa at the beginning of 2021 following the takeover of operations and imports by Stellantis from Unitrans Motors, the revisions to the Blitz’s smallest model are likely to keep it in production until at least past 2025 – a year of the departure of its long-time rival, the Volkswagen Polo.

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Officially also outlasting another arch rival, the Ford Fiesta, whose 47-year production run ended in July this year, the Corsa’s revised aesthetic comprises the Opel Vizor and Compass grille, new headlights with standard LED or optional Matrix IntelliLux LED diodes, a restyled front bumper with slimmer air inlets on the sides, and a new lower air intake.

Besides a new colour called Grafik Grey, the rear facia’s alterations comprise a new bumper, blacked-out taillight clusters and a block letter Corsa name badge spread across the tailgate underneath the Opel logo.

Inside, the new Astra’s influence is easily visible in the newly fitted steering wheel, the centre console from the Mokka with toggle switches as opposed to a gear lever on automatic models, an updated air-conditioning panel and two infotainment systems as part of the Opel Pure Panel; the standard 10-inch or 12-inch or higher-end models.

EV, petrol or diesel choices

As in Europe, export market Corsa will access to petrol and diesel engines, as well as the more powerful electric module powering the now renamed Corsa Electric.

Depending on the market, combustion power will come from the 55 kW normally aspirated 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol, the PureTech 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol in 74 kW and 96 kW guises, and a revised version of the 1.5 BlueCDTI oil-burner uprated from 75 kW to 81 kW.

As for transmissions, a five-speed manual is standard on the free-breathing 1.2 with the 74 kW PureTech and turbodiesel both receiving a six-speed manual as their sole choices.

The more powerful 96 kW PureTech petrol is an all automatic affair with either a six-speed or the new eight-speed self-shifter.

Worth noting is that a 48-volt mild-hybrid system will be offered on both PureTech options where deemed suitable.

Unlike in Europe, the export Corsa misses-out on the 100 kW mild-hybrid PureTech hooked to a nameplate first eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox.

As for the Corsa Electric that replaces the Corsa-e, the previous 50-kWh battery pack has been replaced by a 54-kWh unit capable of producing 115 kW instead of 100 kW. Torque is unchanged at 260 Nm.

With the bigger battery comes an extended range of 402 km versus 357 km and reduced waiting time from 20-80% of 30 minutes using a DC fast charger.

More details in due course

As it stands, no official word from Stellantis South Africa has been made regarding the updated Corsa’s arrival or indeed pricing.

However, should an announcement be made within the coming days, expect a likely price over the current unbadged 1.2-litre base model priced at R325 900.

In addition, expect this engine and the PureTech in at least two states of tune to be retained at the expense of the diesel and Corsa Electric.

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