Plus X Award 2013: Opel Retains Title as Most Innovative Brand

RÜSSELSHEIM, GERMANY – June 11, 2013: Opel is a leader in the development of trendsetting cars and technologies – and the brand again emerged from the Plus X Award ceremony in Cologne yesterday evening as the “Most Innovative Brand” in the automotive product group. This means the automobile manufacturer has won the prestigious innovation prize for the third time since 2010, successfully defending its title from last year.

Having already awarded numerous accolades last February for Opel ADAM, Cascada and Mokka, the international jury gave Opel eight further awards: the new mid-size Cascada convertible impressed the jury with its high-grade fabric top and well-designed luggage compartment in the categories High Quality, Ease of Use and Functionality, while its active safety systems received a distinction for Functionality. Opel seats certified by the Aktion Gesunder Rücken e.V. (Healthy Back Association – AGR) are distinguished by their excellent Ergonomics, and the Zafira Tourer BiTurbo received the Plus X Award for High Quality, Design and Functionality. This means that Opel has taken a total of 21 titles from this year's Plus X Award. In addition to this, the Cascada, the Zafira Tourer BiTurbo and the ADAM FlexFix bicycle carrier system stand out in their respective categories as “Best Product of the Year 2013.”

“We are proud to have been voted again as the most innovative brand by the experts of the Plus X Award,” said Opel marketing director Andreas Marx at the gala event held at The New Yorker | DOCK.ONE. “This result shows that our new models and technologies meet with enduring enthusiasm, and are able to pass the test in every respect with the experts and our customers.”

In front of an audience of more than 300 invited guests from industry and commerce, as well as personalities from society, media and politics, the jury gave its verdict in what was the tenth occasion of the Plus X Award. They had to choose from more than a thousand products in the fields of technology, sport and lifestyle, the best of which were awarded the internationally acclaimed innovation prize. Guests had already been able to experience the quality of Opel models on their way to the gala – the Opel Cascada and the Opel Mokka were used for a shuttle service. Opel also displayed some sensational concepts for the future, such as the three-door urban Mini-Crossover ADAM ROCKS, and the zero-emission vehicle RAK e. The HDTV broadcaster ANIXE will be screening the full anniversary gala on Saturday, June 22 at 20:15 hrs.

Innovative Opel models: Convincing design, functionality and technologies

A highlight of the Cascada, a repeat Plus X Award prize winner, is its high quality soft-top, which can be opened by the push of a button at speeds of up to 50 km/h in just 17 seconds. It can also be opened and closed by remote control. Thanks to this lightweight, space-saving soft-top solution, the Cascada offers abundant luggage space. Trunk capacity ranges from 280 liters with the top down to 380 liters with the top closed, which makes the elegant Opel newcomer one of the most space-efficient convertibles on the market. Especially smart: to enlarge the load space or transport particularly long objects, the Cascada also benefits from the FlexFold system, which electrically unlocks the rear seat backrests by remote control and folds them down with a 50:50 split. This enables a luggage of up to a volume of 750 liters and the stowage of items over 1.80 meters in length.

The Plus X Award jury also commended the Cascada’s sophisticated safety systems. These include a second generation of the Opel front camera with distance and collision warnings, its intelligent Adaptive Forward Lighting system AFL+, as well as a reversing camera, blind spot alarm and parking assist system. The experts also had special praise for the premium quality, ergonomic seats which Opel offers in almost all models from the Cascada to the Astra, the Mokka and Insignia, as well as the compact vans Meriva and Zafira Tourer. The multi-adjustable seats feature an electro-pneumatic lower back support and an extending, angle-adjustable thigh support, and have already received AGR certification for their outstanding ergonomic properties.

Another Plus X Award winner is the 143 kW/195 hp Opel Zafira Tourer 2.0 BiTurbo CDTI with Start/Stop technology – the fastest seven-seat diesel compact van on the market. It combines the familiar elegance and variability of the Zafira Tourer with outstanding performance levels. Thanks to its 2.0-liter BiTurbo engine, the front-wheel drive Zafira Tourer can sprint from zero to 100 km/h in just 8.9 seconds, and accelerate from 80 to 120 km/h in fifth in gear in just 8.5 seconds. Top speed is 218 km/h. And yet the Zafira Tourer needs just 5.6 liters of diesel per 100 kilometers, corresponding to CO2 emissions of 149 grams per kilometer – which means that the BiTurbo engine is not only extra strong, but also extra efficient.