Opel/Vauxhall’s next SUV will be called the Frontera, reviving a nameplate that first appeared in the 1990s on rugged SUVs built under license from Isuzu.
Opel released an image of the Frontera’s grille and silhouette on Wednesday, but did not reveal any more details about the model. It is a potential replacement for the Crossland small crossover, which was launched in 2017.
The new Frontera will be promoted as an electric vehicle, although versions with combustion engines are likely to be available, in keeping with recent Stellantis launches. It will be launched later this year, Opel said Wednesday, with a full reveal of the design in several weeks.
The silhouette image shows a more traditionally styled SUV, with a boxy profile and longer overhangs.
Opel said the Frontera “will come with a high level of space and versatility” and will be “offered at an attractive price.”
The Frontera will be the first production model to have Opel’s new “blitz” emblem, an updating of the the brand’s lightning-bolt logo.
The current Crossland is one of the last vestiges of Opel’s General Motors' heritage. It is built on a platform jointly developed by GM and PSA Group, which in 2021 merged with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to form Stellantis. Citroen this year is also set to launch a replacement for the C3 Aircross, a sister model to the Crossland, based on Stellantis’ low-cost Smart Car platform.
If the Frontera is a small vehicle, it would give Opel two entrants in the segment, Europe’s largest, along with the Mokka.
Opel has said it will be an EV-only brand by 2028, meaning it would launch only full-electric vehicles after that point, but it described the Frontera as having a “battery-electric variant” and said that it would be “available as a battery-electric vehicle from the very start.”
Opel is also launching the second-generation Grandland compact SUV this year. The Grandland will be on Stellantis’ STLA Medium platform and offer up to 700 km of range in electric versions.
