Entry-Level Viva Expands Vauxhall’s A-Segment Range

Vauxhall announces an all-new, 5-door entry-level model to be called Viva when it is launched in the U.K. next summer.

The Viva will be the latest edition to Vauxhall’s small-car range, joining the A-segment Adam and Corsa supermini. Industry reports say it will be based on the South Korean-designed and -built Chevrolet Spark.

Vauxhall Marketing Director Peter Hope says Viva will have an attractive price point and will have either four or five seats. It will be well-specified and come in a range of trims and equipment levels.

The Viva name has been attached to a number of vehicles over the years. Vauxhall’s original Viva, available from 1963 to 1979, was a small family car produced in a succession of three versions with more than 1.5 million built at Vauxhall’s plant in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.

When it came out in 1963 it was Vauxhall's first new small car since 1936 and the automaker’s first serious step into the compact-car market after the World War II.

The name was revived in 2004 when General Motors, in cooperation with Lada manufacturer AvtoVAZ, launched the GM-AvtoVAZ Chevrolet Viva in Russia. It was basically a 4-door Opel Astra G.

The name also was used by GM Holden in Australia and New Zealand on versions of the Daewoo Lacetti and Nubira sold as the Holden Viva.

The Viva name currently is used in Malaysia on the Perodua city car on the market since 2007. Based on the seventh-generation Daihatsu Mira, the Perodua Viva is to be replaced this month by the all-new Perodua Axia.

An Opel version of the Viva will be sold on the European continent under a different name.