All-new Opel Corsa priced ahead of debut as PCSA takes control of distribution

The PSA Group, which merged with Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) this past weekend to create Stellantis, has announced that its South Africa division, PCSA, had taken control from Williams Hunt as the distributors of Opel vehicles.

Joining French siblings Citroën and Peugeot, the takeover occurred on the first of this month and will officially kick-off with the unveiling of the long awaited all-new Corsa later this month.

“We are very excited to be distributing Opel vehicles. The brand has a large following locally, and the future product line up is very exciting, with four product launches or updates planned for this year,” Peugeot-Citroën South Africa Managing Director, Leslie Ramsoomar, said in a statement.

He added that the transition would be undertaken with minimum disruption and that no changes are planned to existing Opel dealers or indeed the Opel network immediately.

Unveiled two years ago, the Corsa, which was first spotted on local shores in June and earmarked for introduction later in 2020 before being pushed back to November or December, will initially be offered solely with the 55kW/118Nm normally aspirated 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol engine mated to a five-speed manual gearbox.  A turbocharged variant, likely to be the PureTech unit of the same size with 74kW/205Nm or 96kW/230Nm, will allegedly become available later. Not expected though is 75kW/250Nm 1.5 BlueCDTI turbodiesel unit or the 100kW/260Nm all-electric Corsa-e.

Although final specification remains unconfirmed, pricing has been revealed with the entry-level Edition retailing from R289 900 and the flagship Elegance from R350 000. More complete details are expected this month.

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