- Innovative Opel extends leadership in flexibility with an array of creative features
- Clever: FlexSpace and FlexRail provide storage to meet customers real needs
- Stylish: New look carries forward Opel’s focus on design language
Rüsselsheim. Opel extends its champion role in the monocab class with the next generation Meriva, bringing innovations – like FlexDoors, FlexSpace, FlexRail and FlexFix – and versatility to a new level not yet seen in its class. And it does so without compromising on the Meriva’s great new look.
Carrying forward Opel’s new flowing design language with its uncompromising focus on quality, the new Meriva also includes the widest interior color and trim choice ever offered by Opel in a single model.
Innovative flexibility solutions ease entry and free up space
A new dimension in rear seat access is opened up by the Meriva’s rear-hinged FlexDoors, a first in the segment. The design optimizes the size of the door aperture by using the space which is occupied by the rear wheel-arch with a front-hinged door. By placing the rear door hinges on the C-pillar, entry and exit space is wider. It is also higher because entry access is adjacent to the B-pillar where there is more space between the roof and floor.
FlexDoors also improved ergonomics. Parents can stand in the space usually taken up by an open door, making it easy to help babies and toddlers with seat belts. Adults can simply step forward when getting in or out of the rear seat, without having to twist over a wheel-arch. The Meriva’s FlexDoors open up to almost 90 degrees, much wider than conventional doors, to assist in storing cargo.
Accessing the rear cabin is also easier in narrow car spaces. Importantly, when both the front and rear door are open at the same time, FlexDoors create a safety zone: Both child and parents can get out of the car without a door separating them; children are kept under control.
At the same time, the FlexDoors are safe. Opel engineers have developed a fail-safe system that ensures the doors are always latched and locked whenever the vehicle is in motion at speeds above four kilometers per hour. To ensure optimum performance and reliability, the sophisticated safety system warns drivers if a door is not completely closed.
Opel innovations provide storage for the little necessities and the big extras
Another innovative feature is the Meriva’s FlexRail center console concept. It provides convenient and adaptable storage for a wide range of everyday items – from handbags and magazines to iPods, CDs and tissue boxes. Extra space has been created between the front seats by raising the gearshift and fitting an electric park brake as a standard feature on all versions.
Improved storage opportunities extend throughout the cabin, which has been designed to accommodate the items that Opel research shows are most commonly carried inside a car. One example: A 1.5-liter bottle fits in the front door pockets.
In the rear, Meriva’s class-leading FlexSpace seating concept offers an adaptable cabin configuration without having to remove any seats. It has been improved for a more intuitive operation with an easy, one-step motion when sliding the rear seat cushions or lowering the seatbacks. This allows the Meriva to easily transform between five and two seats. Alternatively, all rear seatbacks can be fully lowered for optimal cargo-carrying flexibility.
New for Meriva is the FlexFix bicycle carrier. This Opel innovation slides in and out of the rear bumper like a drawer, making bicycle transportation easy and convenient as no special tools or fittings – or storage space in a garage – are required. The carrier can accommodate two bicycles and, when not in use, slides back invisibly into the Meriva’s rear bumper.
Comfortable seats are good for backs
The new seats offer support and generous proportions, bringing a level of comfort typical of those in larger vehicles. The range of adjustment for the front seats is also class-leading.
Ergonomic Sport seats, with tilting function, powered lumbar adjustment, 4-way adjustable headrests and an extendable seat cushion for front occupants, are introduced as an option for Enjoy and Cosmo variants. Those seats have received a seal of approval from Aktion Gesunder Rücken e.V. (Action for Healthy Backs) – an independent panel of ergonomics experts in Germany.
Optimized visibility and safety
The new Meriva optimizes the high-riding benefits of a monocab by offering excellent visibility front and rear. The lowered front fascia, narrower realigned A-pillars and larger front quarter-lights all contribute to a command driving position. The unique wave design in the belt line increases the depth of the rear windows, improving the view from the rear seats, particularly for children.
New for the Meriva is the optional, full-length panorama sunroof. Almost two meters long and equipped with an electrically-powered blind, it is the largest offered in the small monocab segment and further adds to the airy feel of the cabin.
Driving safety can be enhanced by the Adaptive Forward Lighting system, which includes Dynamic Curve Light and Static Cornering Light.
Design quality evident at first glance
Inside and out, the new Meriva expresses Opel’s new design language – sculptural artistry meets German precision – and carries forward the quality already seen on Insignia and the new Astra. The lowered roof-line, Opel’s signature blade body side as well as the wing-shaped daytime driving lights give the new Meriva its fresh and distinctive identity.
On the inside, a warm and inviting cabin ambience is created by the wraparound wing-shaped instrument panel. The forward-leaning center stack contributes to this and adds a notion of sportiness. The interior includes six different levels of color and trim, ranging from traditional, contemporary elegance to more adventurous urban chic, offering the largest choice ever offered by Opel on a single model. The high standard of fit and finish of the chosen textures and materials as well as the layout and decoration of the controls is typical of more expensive cars.
Essentia is finished in Jet Black for the wing fascia motif and upholstery. Enjoy trim comes in Jet Black, Red Curry or Cocoa/light Cocoa for the wing and seat upholstery. The top-of-the-line Cosmo adds rich, embossed seat upholstery trimmed with black Morrocana and contrasting stitching. Two color combinations are offered: anthracite/black or Cocoa/ light grey.
Overall, the new Meriva delivers more expressive design and greater flexibility, reinforcing its leadership of Europe’s small monocab segment. The marriage of form and function has never looked this good.
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