Corsa

Opel’s launch in Australia was led by the popular Astra nameplate in September 2012, but the Corsa light-car had also spent time on the local market as the Holden Barina until it was replaced by a cheaper South Korean-sourced model in 2005.

The Corsa that launched in Australia was actually released in Europe in 2006 and was aiming for rivals such as the Toyota Yaris, Mazda2 and the Hyundai i20.

A three-door hatch in base or Colour Edition specifications was available at launch as was a five-door Enjoy model with just one engine choice – a 1.4-litre 74kW four-cylinder.

Sprinting from zero to 100km/h in the Corsa took 11.9 seconds in the manual while the automatic took a leisurely 13.9 seconds.

Fuel economy for the diminutive Opel was 5.8 litres per 100 kilometres for the manual and 6.3L/100km for the automatic.