Vauxhall’s all-new fifth generation Corsa is close to the end of development, “primed to become the most efficient Corsa ever after undergoing extensive testing and tuning”.

The company says its engineers have used the long polar winters in Swedish Lapland for intensive testing on frozen lakes and on snow-covered roads. Pre-production cars have been lapping the test tracks at the test centre for handling tuning, and the car has undergone electrical tests in the laboratory.

Vauxhall says that customers can look forward to a more dynamic Corsa when sales start this summer, delivering “the typical Vauxhall balance between sportiness and comfort”. The all-new Corsa’s weight has been reduced by more than 10 per cent compared with the outgoing model. Vauxhall will also offer the Corsa for the first time as a battery electric vehicle when the car goes on sale later this year.

Vauxhall engineers have been testing the next-generation Corsa for months in Swedish Lapland, just south of the Arctic Circle. Experts from the chassis control department have been using the harsh extremes of the environment to put the car through extensive chassis tuning programmes for handling and comfort, as well as refining electronic stability, traction control and anti-lock brake systems on slippery surfaces – working in temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius.

Testing with camouflaged cars began in Swedish Lapland last November. From January to March, the ice on the frozen lakes was around one metre thick, so that the test cars, snow-ploughs and water sprinklers could drive on them. Adaptive IntelliLux LED matrix headlights will be available for the first time on the new Corsa. The glare-free matrix headlights automatically and continuously adapt to the prevailing traffic situation and surroundings. Approaching traffic and preceding vehicles are simply ‘cut out’ of the illuminated area. Glare is minimised and drivers enjoy optimum visibility for the first time in the small-car market segment.