Opel Grandland X SUV revealed

German brand Opel, newly under French ownership, has revealed its upcoming new Grandland X mid-sized SUV today.

Entering above the compact Mokka X and Meriva-replacing Crossland X, the third X model in Opel’s new-generation SUV trifecta will make its first public appearance at September’s Frankfurt motor show.

In Europe, the Grandland X five-seater will rival offerings like the Renault Koleos, Volkswagen Tiguan, Ford Kuga (Escape) and other mid-sized SUVs.

The big question for local punters, is: with Opel now transitioning to the PSA Group, parent of Peugeot and Citroen, will the Grandland X see an Australian launch?

No clear answer exists, at this stage, although any Australian launch is unlikely to occur under the Holden banner, Opel’s soon-to-be former General Motors stablemate.

For its part, Holden has confirmed only that it does not comment on future model lines not already confirmed for Australia.

GM’s local arm has not specifically denied we’ll ever see another Holden-badged Opel beyond the current Astra and incoming Commodore (nee Insignia), but it is unlikely the GM/PSA deal on those two lines will extend to models already forecast but further away on the horizon.

That would undoubtedly include the Grandland X, which won’t even go on sale in Europe until 2018.

However, with PSA boss Carlos Tavares making clear that a wider global strategy is under consideration for Opel, we could see the lighting-bolt badge make a return to Australian shores – opening the door to the Grandland X and others.

Of course, if that occurs, it would likely not happen until the Holden Astra and incoming new Commodore finish their local lifecycles – given the obvious styling connection between those two cars and the wider Opel range.

A global plan for the Opel brand could see an initial focus on other left-hand-drive markets, but continuing engineering and production for the right-hand-drive UK market could make Australia an appealing proposition for the German brand’s new owners.

For now, however, we shouldn’t expect to see the Grandland X appear on Australian roads.

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