| Launch Report Vauxhall Corsa |
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Cracker Shark
Hidden in every one of the thousands of new models which will appear gleaming and shiny in Vauxhall dealerships up and down the country will be a shark motif. It's not the GM subsidiary's tongue-in-cheek reference to the business - it's just a bit of fun on the part of their team of designers. They like the style and design of the shark so they've left their mark on the car, and I believe the marketing people are going to use it to tempt customers into the showrooms. No details have been finalised but from what I gathered at the launch of the new car in Germany there are plans to build in customer competitions at the dealerships along the lines of "spot the shark and win a prize". It's a good game, but I do feel that once the word gets out about where the motif is, it's a bit like a one-line joke when you know the punchline. By then of course, the marketing people will have achieved their aim of getting folks into the dealership to look at what's on offer. It's a shame really that they have to stoop to such measures because the car itself is a cracker and should be enough of a draw just by putting it in the showroom window.
I think the current Vauxhall Astra is a very smart car which not only does the job but looks the part too. What the designers at GM have done is extremely clever, taking all that's good about the Astra and making it even better in a scaled-down version called the Corsa. It's actually two distinct cars - a sporty three-door version which takes the honours on the looks front but loses a little on practicality, and the more sensible five-door.
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