Sign up for the newsletter

Sign up for the Stellantis Communications Newsletter and stay updated on all the news.

17 Dec 2018

Prizes Galore in 2018: Awards for Opel’s Winning Automobiles

Prizes Galore in 2018: Awards for Opel’s Winning Automobiles
  • New Opel Combo Cargo is “International Van of the Year 2019”
  • New Combo Life elected AUTOBEST “Best Buy Car of Europe 2019”
  • Insignia flagship and Opel SUV models successful throughout Europe
  • Opel models from ADAM to Zafira win awards for quality and customer satisfaction

 

Rüsselsheim.  Opel cars and light commercial vehicles (LCV) are highly rated by experts and customers, as the numerous prizes won in 2018 show. The run of awards stretches over the whole year, with the Opel Combo Cargo as “International Van Of The Year” and the Opel Combo Life as “Best Buy Car of Europe 2019” the highlights.

The series began in January, with the Crossland X receiving the maximum five stars in the Euro NCAP crash test. The Opel SUV was rated “Best in Class Car 2017” for safety in the B market segment. The Crossland X was also crowned “Car Of The Year” in Serbia.

Then came the first of several awards for the Insignia. Around 15,000 readers of Auto Bild and Computer Bild voted the Opel flagship “Connected Car”. Thanks to its Navi 80 IntelliLink infotainment system with real-time traffic information, the Vivaro Life also collected a prize in the “Connected Car Awards”, in the category for connected camper vans.

Opel models also scored high marks among the readers of Off Road and SUV Magazin. The Grandland X was voted top “2WD SUV” in the “Off Road Awards 2018, while the Crossland X reached the podium with third place in the same category. The Opel SUV duo picked up “Plus X Awards” too, along with the Insignia Country Tourer, which was also “Fleet Car of the Year” in Austria and “Scotland’s 4x4 of the Year”.

The Insignia Grand Sport collected awards in many countries. The Insignia was elected “Family Car Of The Year” in Portugal (Observador), Romania (AUTOpro) and the United Kingdom (Auto Express) and Best Large Family Car in the “Carbuyer Best Car Awards”. The Opel flagship was nominated “Business Sedan of the Year” by Kilometres Enterprise in France and “Autoflotte Top Performer 2018” in Germany. Thanks to its advanced technologies, high comfort and top efficiency, the Insignia has claimed a leading position in its market segment. Fleet-registrations of the Insignia thus increased by 90.5 percent within 12 months.

Strong start: New Combo wins renowned international awards

The new Opel Combo enjoyed great popularity right after its debut. The van had just been launched and the first orders taken when it won the most important award for light commercial vehicles – the “International Van Of The Year”. The jury of journalists from 25 countries elected the Combo Cargo with 127 points – well ahead of its nearest rival, the Mercedes Sprinter (92 points). The high comfort and innovative assistance systems were as decisive for victory as the moderate running costs. Opel CEO, Michael Lohscheller accepted the trophy at the IAA commercial vehicles show in Hanover.

In the United Kingdom, the Combo Cargo also took the “Light Commercial Vehicle of the Year 2019” title at the “What Van?” awards and it was also named “Light Van of the Year”.

Just a few days ago the Combo Life was elected “Best Buy Car of Europe 2019” by the authoritative AUTOBEST jury, which was particularly impressed by the car’s excellent value for money. The Combo Life defeated five other brand new contenders for the title (Citroën C4 Cactus, Dacia Duster, Ford Focus, Kia Ceed and Toyota Corolla).

Opel customers enjoy high quality and retained value

Other Opel models also gathered many prizes this year. The ADAM drove to the top of the small car/city car category of the J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction survey for the third time in succession. The Insignia Grand Sport was voted 2018 winner in the midsize category by Auto Test. Podium places in their segments were taken by the Zafira, Corsa and Crossland X (second position) and the bestselling Astra Sports Tourer (third).

High quality and retained value are two more trumps up Opel’s sleeve, as demonstrated by the Opel Zafira, which is “Wertmeister” (value champion) for the fifth time in Germany. The independent market analysts at Schwacke, together with Auto Bild, rate the Zafira as the best compact van in Germany with a retained value of 53.61 percent after four years and 80,000 km (NEDC fuel consumption Zafira Business Innovation 1.6 Direct Injection Turbo 147 kW/200 hp with Start/Stop: urban 9.0-8.6 l/100 km, extra-urban 6.0-5.8 l/100 km, combined 7.1-6.8 l/100 km, 164-157 g/km CO2)[1].

The Opel ADAM is also a serial-winner. In the 2019 TÜV report the lifestyle Opel emerged once again as the car with the lowest number of errors in the mini segment. According to the report, 91.8 percent of all ADAM cars pass the first main inspection with no errors. The Opel Mokka X also set a shining example: 92.2 percent of three-year-old and 90.5 percent of five-year-old cars passed the main inspection without errors.

 


[1] WLTP measurements converted to NEDC values for comparison

 

Further information about official fuel consumption, official specific CO2 emissions and consumption of electric energy can be found in the “guideline about fuel consumption, CO2 Emissions and electric energy consumption of new passenger cars” ('Leitfaden über den Kraftstoffverbrauch, die CO2-Emissionen und den Stromverbrauch neuer Personenkraftwagen') in German language, which is available free of charge at any point of sales and at DAT Deutsche Automobil Treuhand GmbH, Helmuth-Hirth-Straße 1, D-73760 Ostfildern. 

 

 

Contact

Martin Golka

Group Manager International Product Communications
Tel.: +49 6142/7–55 215
Mobile: +49 151 17 47 39 54
martin.golka@opel.com

Other content

Sign up for the newsletter.

SIGN UP NOW