New Viva could help Vauxhall topple Ford

VAUXHALL has introduced a blast from the past with the launch of their new Viva small car for the original Viva was one of the company’s most popular cars for 16 years from 1963 and the manufacturer is hoping that the latest Viva will do the business in the current very competitive small car market writes Bryan Longworth.
By The Newsroom
Published 27th Jun 2015, 10:09 BST

New Viva has very striking styling especially up front and the city car will be up against formidable opposition such as the trio from the VW Group including the VW Up and Skoda Citigo plus other rivals like the latest Toyota Aygo and Citroen C1.

For a small car the distinctive styling at the front where it has inherited the Corsa’s impressive headlights and Vauxhall’s very smart new-look grille which together have provided Viva with a lot of street appeal.

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The launch of Viva will provide Vauxhall with three small cars along with Adam and Corsa and the company will be hoping that this will enable them to boost their sales in this market segment especially against their great rivals at Ford who do not have such a large number of small cars in their range.

This situation was emphasised by Vauxhall’s chairman and managing director, Tim Tozer, who said that Viva was a “proper small car with great appeal” that would provide the company with a compelling small car portfolio giving them an unrivalled position in this market sector.

New Viva is priced from £7,995 on the road for the five door entry level model with two trim levels, SE and SL which both feature a high level of standard equipment that includes tyre pressure monitoring, lane departure warning, cruise control with speed limiter and front fog lights with cornering function.

However, air conditioning is not available on the entry SE level model and this is available in the SE Air Con model and climate control is standard on the SL range.

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Power comes from a new 1.0-litre three cylinder 75ps engine that first appeared in the Adam Rocks Air and new Corsa which is mated to a five speed transmission driving the front wheels with combined fuel economy of 62.8mpg.

The high economy version of this power unit the Viva SE ecoFLEX has a combined fuel consumption of 65.7mpg and CO2 emissions of 99g/km which it achieves with the addition of a front lip spoiler, extended rear spoiler and ultra low rolling resistance tyres.

Vauxhall say the Viva is a five seater but the car is available with either four or five seats that will make it easier for potential customers to choose a model suitable for their particular needs which is a very good idea that other manufacturers would do well to copy.

I well remember the original Viva was a splendid little car that went on to enhance Vauxhall’s reputation in this market sector and the latest could be another winner and help Vauxhall to achieve their ambition of overtaking Ford as the UK’s top manufacturer.

Verdict: New Viva could help Vauxhall topple Ford.

Fact File

Model: New Vauxhall Viva.

Engine: 1.0-litre three cylinder.

Transmission: Five speed manual.

Doors: Five.

Trim levels: two.

Seats: Five or four.

Price: From £7,995.

Related topics:Vauxhall