Opel’s Corsa nameplate celebrates its 20th birthday this month after selling 11 million cars in three basic ‘generations’. Today in Ireland, the Corsa has a 12.1 percent share of a segment which represents around a quarter of all cars sold in this country.

In very short order after the launch of the first Corsa, in Spain, in 1982, it was selling in excess of 1,600 units a year in Ireland, providing a very significant boost to the car’s segment to more than 10 percent by the end of 1984. And in that year, two other versions of the original hatchback had been introduced - a ‘fastback’ and a small saloon, which was in its time probably the smallest saloon available on the market.

Over succeeding years, up to the the car’s 1989 breaking of the two millionth sale barrier, other versions were added, including a GSi with, for the segment, a whopping 100bhp engine. The first full model change happened in 1993, making the Corsa A a relatively long-lived version in the overall scheme of things.

The next generation, the Corsa B, represented a distinct break from its predecessor’s styling idiom. The new car had predominantly softer, rounded outlines. It was available in Europe either as a 3-door hatchback or a 5-door with a steep-angle back similar to a station wagon.

New equipment and options included automatic transmission and anti-lock braking (ABS). Two new engines of 1.2 and 1.6 litres displacement were also designed, so that the power outputs now extended all the way from 45bhp to 106bhp.

Safety elements in the new car included belt tensioners on both front seats, variable-height upper belt anchorages and the option of full-size airbags. From the 1995 model year on driver’s and front passenger’s airbags became standard equipment.

In 2000 the Corsa C was launched and won the title of Semperit Irish Car of the Year, the annual award of the Irish Motoring Writers Association. It was on this model that Easytronic automated-shift, clutchless gearbox transmission was introduced.

"Here in Opel Ireland, we are particularly proud of the Corsa’s success as its 20th birthday bells ring out," says Iede Aukema Managing Director of Opel Ireland. "The Irish motoring public have taken the Corsa to their hearts and particularly with the current third generation.”