11 May 2001: A new medium van which has been produced as a joint venture by Opel and Renault will make its first appearance in Ireland under the GM brand in July.

The Opel Vivaro will be priced from £15,000-£16,300 when it is launched and will be available in SWB and LWB formats, with a choice of 1.9-litre engines in normal aspiration or turbocharged, with respective outputs of 88bhp and 100bhp. A 2.5-litre Td is on the cards for later.

The Renault Trafic version is expected in Ireland in September. The two brands are differentiated by their grille designs and front lights but are essentially the same otherwise. Internally, there will be minor differences in the entertainment/communications panel between marques.

The vans were revealed to Irish journalists yesterday in a unique joint launch by Renault and Opel in Copenhagen. Although the initial introduction of the GM version will be of a panel van only, the vehicle is also being produced in a 'Combi' MPV people carrier and in a floor cab version.

A lot of attention has been given to making the driver's area at least as comfortable as a car, while safety issues have been addressed by the provision of ABS brakes and a driver's airbag as standard. A CD player, fog lamps, and central locking are also standard.

Operating costs have also been brought down by means of extended service intervals to 30,000 kilometres or two years, as well as 120,000 kilometre brake fluid and drive belt replacement intervals.

From Opel's point of view, the Vivaro fills out the company's light commercial vehicle range from the CDV Corsa and Astra models to the Arena and Movano panel vans which were also the result of joint productions with Renault. The brand expects to sell 1,000 Vivaros between July and the end of next year in Ireland.

In Europe the front runner in the LCV market in Europe is Renault, followed by a fast-growing Citroen and Fiat with a growth rate not far behind that number two. Over 50% of the total van segment in Europe is accounted for by Class 2 vans like the Vivaro/Trafic, and more than half a million units were sold in 2000. In Ireland, the segment is dominated by Ford's Transit. One in three vehicles in the world is an LCV. A boom in vans in this segment is envisaged due to increased e-commerce purchasing of goods which will need to be delivered to buyers.

The new vans are being built by the GM-owned IBC plant in Luton in the UK, home of the Bedford commercial vehicle brand.