Opel takes a safety first approach with Karl

The death of a couple trapped in a crashed car for three days this summer sadly coincided with the launch of a system designed to prevent just such fatalities.

The couple died after their car crashed on a Scottish motorway. Media reports say Lamara Bell lay injured for about 72 hours after the crash on July 5th, was conscious and trying to escape when rescuers arrived four days later.

She died in hospital.

While the crash was reported on the day there seems to have been errors in the handling of the call to Scottish police. The initial alert was not followed up.

Weeks before this horrific incident we were treated to a display of Opel’s new OnStar system, already in place for nearly a decade in the United States, where it has saved lives.

Along with a host of in-car connection features the kernel of its benefits is a real-time emergency response system.

For European customers, staff at the firm’s control centre in Luton, England, are automatically alerted if airbags are deployed or if any sensors located throughout the car record damage.

They can also be contacted via buttons within the car. So, for example, if the driver takes ill or is witness to a crash involving other vehicles he or she can simply hit the button and talk to the control centre.

Controllers can then use the system to identify the exact location of the vehicle, even if the vehicle’s occupants are unsure.

Could it have helped save at least one life in the Scottish crash? I guess we can never be certain, but it would certainly have provided another line of communication to alert emergency services.

Opel has been at the forefront of rolling out this new tech, having introduced OnStar to the US market 19 years ago.

There it boasts more than 7 million users, with more than 5,000 automatic crash responses a month.

Stellar advances

What has this to do with the new Opel Karl? Well, Opel is offering this system as an option on its latest city car.

It’s a move that underlines just how far technology is moving even in the most price-conscious and supposedly basic cars on the market.

And while the focus of post-recession buyers will be on the eye-catching advances with touchscreen entertainment systems, high-resolution reversing cameras and even self-parking systems, the most impresssive advances are the ones that will potentially save lives.

As the Irish public parks up the recessionary bangers and returns again to the shiny car showrooms, buyers are set to be pleasantly surprised with just how far the car has come in the seven years of our economic malaise.

The Karl is a case in point: a car that will appeal to those who seek little more than a small functional runabout, where price and practicality usurp all other potential features.

Styling is not a Karl strong point. It has the usual array of indents and creases; that is de rigueur these days, ever since engineers mastered the art of manipulating sheet metal without compromising on strength.

Surprisingly, even in the height of the recession the city car remained a sales minnow in terms of market share.

Irish buyers preferred to opt for larger cars even if it meant older used models.

Only one engine is offered: Opel’s impressive 1-litre Ecotec engine which already features in the Corsa. It’s a plucky little powertrain, albeit lacking some of the turbo pep that it has in the larger supermini.

In the Karl it’s putting out 75bhp. That’s enough for a car of this size, although a time of 13.9 seconds from standing to 100km/h means there’s little hot about this hatchback.

However, the power is delivered smoothly, making the Karl an easy car to drive around town.

And it might not be incredibly nippy, but it is nimble. Step up a grade from the base model and you get city mode steering and cruise control, which all adds to that sense of ease.

This second-level specification is arguably the best option for buyers, although it does push the price up from the entry level €11,995 to €13,695.

In a price-sensitive market that could be a hurdle to sales growth, although it's on a par with what else is on offer from rivals. Hyundai's i10 starts at €12,245, the Toyota Aygo at €12,625 and the VW Up at €12,145.

Throw some similar specification on these models and their prices start to rise at a similar pace.

Hold its head high

In terms of where it sits against its rivals, the Karl can hold its head high. None of the others are that far ahead, though the Up comes closest to offering supermini-sized space, fit and finish at city car prices.

Its siblings from Seat and Skoda are also better priced than the Karl at entry-level.

This new model is not going to substantially change Opel’s position in the sales charts, given that such cars represent less than 3 per cent of all sales, but it may lure a few of the returning buyers to an Opel dealership.

It’s certainly worth a test drive if you are on the market for such cars, and if you’re getting out of a pre-2009 car then it will offer an insight into how far we’ve come, both in terms of entertainment features but also life-saving tech.