“The new model looked really cool even when it was still covered up, but seeing it now, in real life? Guys, it’s amazing!”
Jürgen Klopp
At this world premiere at Opel headquarters in Rüsselsheim, Germany, ‘the new normal’ means greeting each other with an elbow-bump, temperature checks at the entrance and wearing masks. But it’s also exciting – because Opel is unveiling the new normal for its own brand at its headquarters. And it’s anything but boring: The new face of the brand, the Opel Mokka, features an Opel ‘Vizor’. A newly designed Opel lightning bolt. A centrally positioned model name on the back. And in the interior: the Pure Panel. The keywords of the day: Pure and bold. Audacious and clear. The new normal at Opel.
And ‘The Normal One’, Jürgen Klopp, isn’t about to miss out on this special premiere, either. The brand ambassador sends in a video greeting: “The new model looked really cool even when it was still covered up, but seeing it now, in real life? Guys, it’s amazing!” Due to the strict hygiene regulations, only a small number of guests are permitted to attend the event in person, so the press conference will be available in full directly after the event on YouTube. And that, too, is the new normal.
“It looks a bit like a chiselled athlete.”…
“Not a single gram of fat.”…
“Did I hear that right? The price starts at €19,990?”…
“It looks even better in person than it does in photos.”…
“Cool to see a Manta there!”…
“Did you see all the cameras?”
The world premiere just ended, the impressions are fresh in everyone’s minds, and the mood of our four Opel colleagues who attended is somewhere between euphoric and exhilarated. For the four Opel associates, the presentation of the Mokka at the company’s headquarters in Rüsselsheim is a double premiere. “To have the chance to attend an event like this – just amazing!” says Daniel Herold. The four colleagues won the chance to participate in the event through an exclusive competition in Internal Communication. The Mokka has just proven its show car credentials on stage, but the toughest test is yet to come: a thorough inspection by these Opel associates.
As a new father, Daniel Herold has some very pragmatic questions: Is there room for a car seat, pram and lots of luggage? He takes a look at the interior and inspects the rear of the compact five-seater, which measures in at a length of just 4.15 metres: “There’s more room in here than you’d expect from the outside”, he says, with an approving nod. “A lot more!”
As Assistant Manager Customs, one of Herold’s areas of responsibility is the customs formalities for when Opels are exported abroad, “sometimes to exotic countries. Yesterday, for example, a Grandland X was set to ship out to New Caledonia in the South Pacific”. And as a numbers guy, Herold is particularly impressed with the starting price: “€19,990 gets you a lot of car here. It’s an attractive deal!” And the zero-emissions version, the Mokka-e, starts at €32,990. If you take the current innovation subsidy into account, that price drops to €23,420. Herold: “To me, that’s the real message of today – e-mobility will become affordable for everyone. Excellent work!”
Please note: The photos in this report are not wholly reflective of the situation at the event. Participants were only permitted to briefly remove their masks for photos in a separate outdoor box in front of Hall K-175. Because a live, in-person global premiere in the age of Covid-19 also means:
masks, social distance, temperature controls at the entrance and disinfectant on the tables. Between the individual time slots when journalists were allowed to inspect the Mokka, the interiors and exteriors of the vehicles were cleaned, disinfected and aired out. Safety was the top priority.
“The new cockpit is the biggest wow factor for me.”
Robert Macus can’t get enough of the new fully digital cockpit, the Pure Panel. “It’s a giant leap forward”, says the vehicle development engineer. Two wide-screen displays, the functions stripped down to the bare essentials. An electric parking brake and an electric gear shift, no superfluous elements – clear design is also the order of the day for the central console.
Macus: “The redesigned cockpit is definitely the biggest surprise, the biggest wow factor for me.” And an additional plus: “Knobs are still there where it makes sense: to regulate the volume and the air conditioning.”
“I like that the Opel Manta served as the inspiration for the Opel ‘Vizor’.”
Timo Keller first heads over to the display area with the historic Opel icons. “I particularly like that the legendary first generation of the Opel Manta served as the inspiration for the Opel ‘Vizor’”, says the trainer for machining mechanics at the Kaiserslautern plant as he inspects the front grille of a Manta with double headlights framed by a thin chrome bar against a black background.
Today, on the day of the Mokka world premiere, his trainees are taking their exams at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “I’m crossing my fingers for them from here!” The trainer also gives the Opel ‘Vizor’ a “huge thumbs up”. “It gives the Mokka an unmistakeable face”, he says.
“Anyone who has experienced how matrix lights turn night into day will never want to do without them.”
Philipp Leonard Einhaus is an associate who has a huge amount of Opel expertise. CMP – of course, he knows that it stands for Common Modular Platform. The Mokka-e has a range of 324 kilometres, and it goes from 0 to 50 kph in 3.7 seconds. Back during his dual-track degree programme, Einhaus acquired an incredible amount of knowledge in the various Opel departments. One of the stations on his educational path was Lighting Technology, headed by Ingolf Schneider. Since then, Einhaus has had a soft spot for Opel lighting: “Anyone who has experienced how LED matrix lights turn night into day will never want to do without them,” he says confidently. And of course, he knows that all the new Mokka models come with LED headlights and rear lights as standard, and that the headlights consist of 14 elements.
The planner at the Rüsselsheim plant thinks Opel did a particularly good job on the Mokka’s light signature: “Slender, elegant and unmistakeably Opel.” And the fact that lighting technology isn’t the only area where the Mokka continues the Opel tradition of offering innovative technologies from higher vehicle classes to a wider group of buyers is something that Einhaus is “particularly happy about”.
September 2020