Opel Zafira

The Zafira was marketed in the Philippines from 2001 to 2005, as the last Europe-based Opel marketed in the Philippines after they stopped selling the Opel Astra in 2003. Although sold as the Chevrolet Zafira, it was sold alongside other Opel vehicles until it the Opel name was pulled out of the Philippine-market by its distributor, GM Philippines.

The Zafira was produced and sold in the Thailand from 2000 to 2005. it was sold alongside other Opel vehicles until it the Opel name was pulled out of the Thai-market by its distributor, GM Thailand. Thailand’s domestic family wagon segment with 3,946 units sold.

The Zafira A was sold in Malaysia as the Chevrolet Nabira.[8]

Introduced at Geneva in February 2001, the turbocharged Zafira OPC went on sale in October 2001. With 192 PS (141 kW), this was the fastest minivan on sale in Europe.[9] Only available with a five speed manual transmission, 0–100 km/h (62 mph) can be reached in 8.2 seconds and the top speed is 220 km/h (137 mph).[4]

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  Opel Zafira A OPC
• 
  Rear view

The Zafira was sold in Japan from August 2001 through to November 2004 as the Subaru Traviq alongside the standard Opel vehicle. In exchange, Subaru supplied the Subaru Forester as the Chevrolet Forester in India since 2003.[10]

According to Subaru, the Traviq name was a combination of the words "travel" and "quick".[11] Imported from Thailand,[12] the Traviq was originally only available with the bigger 2.2 litre engine, although a 1.8 L, lower priced alternative was added in July 2003.[11] The engines used were not Subaru supplied boxer engines, but were conventional in line units that were uncharacteristic to market recognised Subaru products, and all-wheel drive was also not available.

The sale of the Zafira as a Subaru created a conflict with previously established Yanase Co., Ltd. retail dealerships, in that Yanase was already selling Opel products, like the Zafira. When production of the Traviq ended, Yanase continued to import Opel products into Japan until 2006. It was replaced later in 2008 by the Subaru Exiga – developed from the Subaru Legacy platform.

• 
  Subaru Traviq (Japan)

• Vauxhall Zafira – United Kingdom
• Chevrolet Zafira – Chile and Mexico
• Opel Zafira – Europe (except for United Kingdom), Japan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan & South Africa

In Mexico the Chevrolet Zafira was discontinued after the 2006 model year, and replaced by the five-passenger Chevrolet HHR.

• 
  Opel Zafira B (2005–2009)
• 
  Opel Zafira B (2009–2014)
• 
  Rear view (2009–2014)
• 
  Dashboard (Opel Zafira B 2006)
• 
  Opel Zafira OPC
  (2009–2011)
• 
  Vauxhall Zafira (United Kingdom) (2005–2009)
• 
  Vauxhall Zafira VXR (United Kingdom) (2005–2009)
• 
  Vauxhall Zafira (United Kingdom) (2009–2014)
• 
  Vauxhall Zafira (With new badge design) (United Kingdom)
• 
  Chevrolet Zafira B (2005-2009)
• 
  Chevrolet Zafira B (2009-2014)

The Zafira B's engine line was partly carried over from the previous Astra/Zafira generation. Opel replaced the 2.0 and 2.2 turbodiesel I4 engines with 1.9 L common rail turbodiesels developed by Fiat (Multijet). Opel Performance Center developed a turbocharged 240 hp (180 kW) 2.0 L performance version of the Zafira B as well. A CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) version of the new Zafira with a 1.6 L engine is also available.

In December 2015, safety officials in the United Kingdom asked Vauxhall to initiate a full safety recall of the model Zafira B, due to a worrying level of car fires apparently or alleged to have been caused by 'Improper Repairs'.[17]

The fires continued, even those recalled, and a second full safety recall was announced in May 2016, with all owners advised not to use the fan in speeds regulated by the "resistor pack" which contained a solder based unreliable safety critical thermal fuse, until the second recall, starting August 2016, had been carried out.[18]

On 3 May 2018, a criminal investigation into Vauxhall's handling of the fires of the Zafira B and recalls was launched in the United Kingdom.[19]

On 31 August 2019, major damage occurred in a parking garage in Cork, Ireland when an Opel Zafira caught fire.[20]

On 7 January 2020, there was a spontaneous fire in an Opel Zafira, which caused over 200 to 300 cars in a parking garage at Stavanger Airport, Sola to be destroyed. No people were harmed.[21]

All engines had a six speed manual gearbox as standard, bar the 1.8 petrol, which had a five speed manual gearbox as standard. An automatic gearbox was available as an option on the 1.4T and 2.0 CDTI (165 PS), both without S/S.

An EcoFLEX version went on sale in 2012, equipped with the 2.0 CDTI (130PS) engine and it gained a Start/Stop system to make it more economical, emitting 119g/km of CO₂, as for petrol variants they were 1.4T ecoFLEX with a Start/Stop system with same amount of power (120 and 140 PS) like standard versions but with lower CO₂ emissions – 144g/km and better fuel efficiency.[30]

In 2013, two all new engines were introduced: 1.6 SIDI Turbo petrol engine with 170 PS and 200 PS, and newly developed 1.6 CDTI diesel engine with 136 PS. In September 2014, Opel introduced its all new generation of engines – Large Diesel engines, starting with 2.0 CDTI engine with 170 PS and 400 Nm, which is a part of new strategy in which Opel will introduce seventeen new engines, in a period from 2014–2018.[31]