Jacked-up Vauxhall Viva Rocks revealed at Paris

The Vauxhall Viva has gone butch. It's been jacked up and gained rugged plastic cladding to turn it into the Viva Rocks - a crossover-styled variant of the budget city car which will go on sale next year in the UK. It was revealed at the 2016 Paris Motor Show on the Opel stand - Opel being GM's European arm.

In Europe the Viva is known as the Opel Karl, and the Rocks nametag denotes that it's a slightly jacked-up, SUV-styled version of the car. Vauxhall says the raised ride height improves visibility and allows the Viva Rocks to tackle rougher surfaces than the standard car, but don't get too excited - it's not a proper SUV, and there won't be goodies like four-wheel drive on offer.

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Instead, the Viva Rocks gets an 18mm higher ride height, more rugged-looking bumpers and wheel arches, plus some roof rails and new 15-inch alloy wheels. Inside, there's some exclusive cloth seats and sill plates to give it a tougher feel as well.

There are no details on powertrain or prices yet, but it's likely to get the same 74bhp 1.0-litre petrol engine and a choice of either manual or automatic gearboxs. It's possible that a turbocharged 1.0-litre engine, that will also make it into the standard Vauxhall Viva, could be made available in the car.

Would you like to see a Vauxhall Viva Rocks in the UK? Let us know in the comments section below...