New Opel Corsa Lite – The competitors at R350,000

The competition
Kia Rio hatch 1.4 EX
Honda Fit 1.5 Comfort
Mazda 2 1.5 Individual
Renault Clio 1.0 Turbo Intens
Hyundai i20 1.0T Fluid
Citroen C3 1.2T Shine
VW Polo 1.0TSI Life
Peugeot 208 1.2T Allure
Fiat Tipo hatch 1.4 City Life
Suzuki Swift 1.4T Sport

South Africa’s hatchback scene got an exciting new entry recently with the return of the Opel Corsa Lite.

The Corsa has long been a staple of the affordable car spectrum and the new Lite slots in as the entry-level model in the range.

For a starting price of R349,900, you’ll gain access to a 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol engine with 74kW and 205Nm – a significant increase to the 55kW and 118Nm produced by the 1.2-litre naturally aspirated unit found on the old base model.

A six-speed manual gearbox is used to send power to the front wheels, giving the hatch a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 9.9 seconds and a top speed of 194km/h.

Its fuel consumption, meanwhile, works out to 5.7l/100km on a combined cycle.

Despite its name, the Opel is also not light on features as standard equipment includes 16-inch alloy wheels, automatic Eco LED headlamps, halogen daytime running lights, front electric windows, cloth seats, manual air conditioning, a 7-inch digital driver display, multifunction steering wheel, Bluetooth, cruise control, hill assist, front pedestrian detection, lane-keep assist, ABS, and a 7-inch infotainment screen with six speakers.

The competition

These are the hatchbacks that are competing against the new Opel Corsa Lite.

Note that while the Kia Rio is still on sale as of the time of writing, it will soon be discontinued owing to the manufacturer’s decision to no longer make the car for right-hand drive markets.

Click on the underlined prices for more information.