Opel has announced that it will offer a new 1,5-litre turbodiesel engine in its Grandland X, billing it as more powerful and more economical than the 1,6-litre engine it replaces.
The German automaker, which now falls under the PSA Group banner, says the new powertrain is designed to meet “strict future emissions requirements”.
The new four-cylinder oil-burner makes 96 kW and 300 N.m (the latter on tap from 1 750 r/min), and in the Grandland X is mated to a six-speed manual transmission. The result is a claimed fuel consumption figure of 4,2 L/100 km. Opel says the new engine will also be available with an “advanced new eight-speed automatic transmission”.
Whether this new turbodiesel will be offered when the Grandland X launches in South Africa in May 2018 remains to be seen.
In March 2018, the PSA Group announced that it had signed a joint-venture agreement with the Namibian government to create an assembly plant in Walvis Bay, with the Opel Grandland X and Peugeot 3008 set to be the first models assembled at the new factory. And it’s from this plant that SA is expected to source its units.
Interestingly, by 2020, Opel says it plans to offer the Grandland X as the brand’s first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.
