An interesting titbit of information from the Opel Meriva launch recently: it seems that the engineers in Russelsheim toyed with the idea of copying rival Ford's sliding rear doors idea for the facelifted car, but ultimately rejected it.
To explain: the Meriva, ever since the second generation debuted, has featured rear-hinged 'suicide' doors, much like those fitted to the Rolls-Royce Phantom and Mazda RX-8. The Ford B-Max on the other hand has sliding rear doors and no B-pillar for easier access. Actually that's not quite true; it does have B-pillars, as to do without would compromise safety, it's just that they are in the doors themselves rather than in the frame of the car.
When designing the updated Meriva the Opel engineers spent a long time studying the Ford solution and toyed with the idea of implementing their own version. Quite how far they went is unclear - retrofitting a sliding door mechanism would not be overly difficult, but trying to accommodate or move the B-pillar would have been.
But ultimately Opel decided to retain the suicide doors as fitting a sliding mechanism would have eaten up too much interior space. As it happens I have a Ford B-Max on my driveway this week and I can see where Opel is coming from - the doors themselves are much thicker, as they house the B-pillar strengthening, while the rear panelling that is used to hide the door rails does indeed eat into available space.
But here's the thing - the Ford is marginally wider than the Opel to begin with and, without resorting to a tape measure and flying back to Brussels to get the Meriva's measurements, there doesn't seem to be that much in it. A bigger issue is that the Ford panelling is flat with no integrated armrest - unlike the one in the Meriva. With both cars aimed at families the rear seat occupants are likely to be encased in child or booster seats so, again, this doesn't seem like that much of an issue. The engineers did try to make the case that by retaining the B-pillar and its grab handle, getting out of the rear seats is easier in the Meriva than in the B-Max, but at that stage it felt like the engineers were clutching at straws.
Is this a case of Opel bluster or a real world issue?