Only a few months after the Opel Mokka compact SUV went on sale in Europe, Opel has announced that the Mokka is on its way to Australia. It will hit showrooms here “in the third quarter of this year” — the German company won’t be more specific about timing.
Opel Australia’s managing director, Bill Mott, said the Mokka will be very welcome Down Under.
“We are very excited to bring the Mokka to Australia. This car has already had in excess of 100,000 orders in Europe since launch, and with the Australian SUV segment growing 22 per cent in the last 12 months it is certainly a space we want to be playing in.””
We witnessed the global debut of the Opel Mokka at the Geneva Motor Show in 2012 and liked its positive stance and bold lines. It has a sculpted body in keeping with the latest thinking in this fast-growing market segment. Opel says Mokka has been given a sporty edge with well-defined lines.
The interior of the new Mokka centres on a wing-shaped instrument panel that blends around the door inserts and the sculpted surfaces in the doors.
The Mokka will be launched in Australia with a turbocharged 1.4-litre turbo-petrol engine mated to either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission. This engine is familiar to Australian drivers of the Holden Cruze and is one of our favourite powerplants.
A turbo-diesel is an option in the Mokka in other markets.
In keeping with most SUVs these days the Mokka will be available with either front-wheel drive or 4WD. The latter using Opel’s adaptive all-wheel drive technology.
The Opel Mokka is a five-star Euro NCAP vehicle.
Though still a newcomer in Australia, Opel is big in Europe and was the fourth largest automotive brand in that area in 2011, with over 1.2 million vehicles sold. Many Opels with Holden badges (Barina, Astra, Vectra among others) have been sold in this country in past decades.
