Opel kicks off New Zealand sales with electric Mokka headlining

Friday, 4 November 2022

The Mokka-e electric small SUV is spearheading Opel’s return to Kiwi shores.

Opel is back in New Zealand, launching with the Corsa and Mokka in both combustion and fully electric guises.

These days the carmaker is part of the Stellantis family, not GM like you might remember, and the local brass were keen to point out the fact that it’s the only German brand there. It still uses French bones in its vehicles, though, with the Corsa representing an alternative Peugeot 208 supermini and the Mokka related to the Peugeot 2008 small SUV.

Opel wanted to offer Kiwi buyers a selection of powertrains and pricing, so each model is available with either combustion or electric power. Since March 2022, Opel has seen around 5000 enquiries for the two electric options.

Both options get rebates, with the petrol-powered Mokka SRi and Edition nabbing just under $2000 back and the Corsa SRi pulling $2438. The Mokka-e and Corsa-e both get the full $8625 return.

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The Corsa supermini is also coming here, with the same powertrains as the Peugeot 208, also as an EV.

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Mokka SRi models get the new ‘Pure Panel’ digital dash.

As for pricing, the combustion Corsa SRi asks $36,990 and the electric comes in at $59,990. Meanwhile, the Mokka Edition costs $38,990, the upspecced SRi starts at 44,990, and the Mokka-e goes for $69,990. Opel NZ’s commercial manager, Noah Robertson, said that while these are launch prices, there weren't plans to raise them yet, although various global issues may force some adjustments down the line.

Something else to note is that with by sourcing power from Peugeot’s 1.2-litre engine, Opel now has the lowest fleet emissions in New Zealand, with 80g/km of CO2.

Because of those Germanic roots, local distributors Auto Distributors New Zealand (ADNZ) are targeting Opel more toward the likes of Volkswagen instead of Peugeot or Citroen, despite undercutting Peugeot on each of its cars. There is also the likes of the BYD Atto 3, Kia Niro, Hyundai Kona and MG ZS to contend with.

Opel had a couple of Mokkas and Corsas on hand for brief urban test drives, both electric. The Mokka-e is Opel’s hero car for the time being, with some smart styling including the ‘vizor’ stretching between the matrix LED headlights, a closed grille, black roof, and a strong character line along the flank. It also gets a pair of large digital screens inside, lots of driver assistance, and carbon-look plastics.

The two-tone paint job is very smart, as are those thick DRLs with the black visor and closed grille.

It’s a good thing to drive as well, unsurprisingly reminiscent of the Peugeot e-2008 with smooth, linear acceleration rather than the instant smack of torque you might be used to from EVs. The driving position can be dropped quite low too.

Unfortunately, the vague brakes from the e-2008 seem to be present as well, but we’ll wait for a proper road test to be sure.

Meanwhile, the Corsa-e is ever so slightly less impressive, with smaller digital screens and no visor on the nose. But it’s a bit quicker, being smaller and lighter, and felt like it had better brakes. Again, a proper road test will reveal more.

Also keep an eye out for the Grandland SUV and Astra hatchback, due sometime early next year.