The Manta was a much-loved sports coupe that Opel built in the ‘70s and ‘80s, and now the nameplate is making a comeback, albeit in a very different form. The German carmaker has confirmed that it plans to launch a new-age Manta around the middle of the decade and it’s going to take the form of a battery-powered crossover.
Not much else is known about the new Opel Manta at this stage, although the teaser sketch that you see here does show us that Opel is aiming for a sporty, coupe-like look, albeit the production version will no doubt be toned down to some degree.
Many had hoped that Opel would relaunch the Manta as a two-door coupe, particularly after the Manta GSe restomode concept made its debut recently, but the carmaker is clearly chasing volumes here and this is where the crossover format starts to make sense.
The new Opel Manta forms part of a wider electrification drive that will see the German brand becoming electric-only in Europe by 2028, as revealed by CEO Michael Lohscheller on YouTube this week.
Opel’s parent company Stellantis plans to invest 30 billion euro (R508 bn) through 2025 in electrification and software development for its 14 brands around the globe. The auto giant is developing four EV-focused platforms, differing in size and offering driving ranges of up to 800 km between recharges.
