Vauxhall is getting ready for one of its biggest launches in years – the all-new Corsa – but the unveiling appears to have been spoiled in advance. The fifth-generation Ford Fiesta rival isn’t due to be unveiled for a couple of weeks, but what looks to be official press images have reportedly been leaked online by French automotive forum Worldscoop, and promptly taken down.  The images show the new Corsa will have a distinctly different design than the new Peugeot 208, with which the Corsa shares its platform and underpinnings. The proportions will be similar between both cars, with the new Vauxhall being lower and wider than its predecessor. The front end takes several cues from the Grandland X, while the rear is clearly related to the Astra.  The shots are also of the electric variant, dubbed eCorsa, which was expected to be revealed before the petrol and diesel variants. After an official launch next month, sales of the new car in all three powertrains are expected to begin by the autumn.  Camouflaged prototypes were previously shown being subjected to temperatures of -30 deg celsius in Sweden, carrying out chassis tuning at a test circuit and being analysed by electrical engineers in a laboratory.  Vauxhall recently confirmed that the fifth-generation Corsa weighs up to 108kg less than the outgoing model.  According to the manufacturer, depending on specification, the new supermini can weigh as little as 980kg – roughly 130kg less than the lightest Ford Fiesta.  The weight loss comes courtesy of new high-strength steel bodywork, lightweight interior insulation materials and a range of all-aluminium powertrains.  Like the range-topping variant of the current Insignia, the new Corsa will feature an aluminium bonnet weighing 2.4kg less than the steel unit fitted to the current model, as shown in a breakdown of weight savings published by the manufacturer (below). Previous spy shots of the upcoming Volkswagen Polo rival show a design that shares cues with the recently revealed Peugeot 208, which uses the same underpinnings.  It’s the first mainstream Vauxhall produced entirely under the brand’s new owner, the PSA Group, and is crucial to Vauxhall and Opel’s success given the car’s historic popularity. It will also be both brands’ first model to be sold with a battery-electric variant.  A preview image, released earlier this year, showed the Corsa’s headlights will feature adaptive-beam full LED technology – claimed to be a segment first. Usually the preserve of premium models, the LEDs are able to continuously adapt the full beam pattern to stop it from causing glare to oncoming traffic.    The Corsa will set the tone for a new wave of Vauxhall/Opel models, each of which will be overhauled thanks to access to new platforms, engines and hardware that are also used across the group’s other car brands: Peugeot, Citroën and DS. The new Corsa has been developed in an unusually fast time. When it is unveiled, less than two years will have elapsed since work began, just as the deal to buy Vauxhall/Opel was being agreed between PSA and General Motors. The quick turnaround is due to PSA reversing the original decision for the next Corsa to be based on GM’s architecture. Once PSA had taken over Vauxhall/Opel, it would have been required to pay a licensing fee to GM to use the platform, something boss Carlos Tavares is keen to avoid.  Vauxhall/Opel boss Michael Lohscheller has previously told Autocar that the new Corsa will not be compromised in any way. “It’s true that we had a version ready to go, and you can’t just stretch a design to fit a new platform,” he said, “but the teams have done a fantastic job in record time to ensure that the car is on schedule.” The new Corsa will be based on PSA’s Common Modular Platform (CMP), a front-wheel-drive architecture. The Corsa will also dip into PSA’s engine line-up and is likely to adopt the turbocharged 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol unit in a variety of power outputs. Despite the switch to a new platform, the Mk6 Corsa’s dimensions are understood to closely match the outgoing model’s. Vauxhall chose to launch the current Corsa in 2014 with near-identical dimensions to its predecessor, because the company felt it was the ideal size for customers. This strategy is expected to continue. The current Corsa is 4021mm long, 1736mm wide and 1479mm tall, dimensions that make it slightly longer and taller, but narrower, than the existing 208. The design of the Corsa was set to be evolutionary before the plan for a GM-derived model was axed. Now, to mark a new era for the model under PSA ownership, the styling promises to mark a departure from its traditional look. However, if the Grandland X SUV is anything to go by, its relationship with PSA will result in a design less radical than the new 208.  The three-door Corsa will be axed, reflecting an industry trend to discontinue such bodystyles, which are less popular with buyers. Producing only a
Origin: New Vauxhall Corsa leaks online ahead of imminent reveal