As CAR magazine tells it, Opel (and Vauxhall) Calibra might be in line for a successor based on the Opel Insignia, better known as the Buick Regal in North America. Said to be operating under the project name New Calibra for the moment, there is much to be acquired and decided before such a couple has any chance of becoming a reality, but Calibra fans should at least be heartened by the discussion.
One of the first decisions would be to figure out if the car is really a new Calibra or better thought of as an Insignia Coupe. The Insignia is more than 13 inches longer than the last Calibra (which ended production in 1997), and as a proper four-seater, a two-door Insignia would probably appeal to a very different crowd than the Calibra. The Insignia is already offered in sedan, liftback and wagon formats.
Then there's the matter of money: it's said that Opel/Vauxhall would need to sell 30,000 every year before making money on the cars. With fewer in-house avenues for platform sharing, General Motors' financial situation still requiring babysitting, and Opel probably about to be refused a loan from the German government, throwing another coupe into the mix might not be the go-to strategy. That said, leveraging the cost of such an endeavor while helping to augment Buick's increasingly youthful image with a Regal coupe might not be such a bad move, right?
[Source: CAR]
One of the first decisions would be to figure out if the car is really a new Calibra or better thought of as an Insignia Coupe. The Insignia is more than 13 inches longer than the last Calibra (which ended production in 1997), and as a proper four-seater, a two-door Insignia would probably appeal to a very different crowd than the Calibra. The Insignia is already offered in sedan, liftback and wagon formats.
Then there's the matter of money: it's said that Opel/Vauxhall would need to sell 30,000 every year before making money on the cars. With fewer in-house avenues for platform sharing, General Motors' financial situation still requiring babysitting, and Opel probably about to be refused a loan from the German government, throwing another coupe into the mix might not be the go-to strategy. That said, leveraging the cost of such an endeavor while helping to augment Buick's increasingly youthful image with a Regal coupe might not be such a bad move, right?
[Source: CAR]
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