10 cars that were launched when the selection was fifth

The last time Brazil was champion in the football World Cup was in 2002, when the event took place in Japan and South Korea. While Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Vampeta and other stars scored goals on the other side of the world, our market received some important car launches.

SEE ALSO:

• What was the car market like in Brazil the last time we won a World Cup
• The 10 best-selling cars in Brazil in 2002: what has changed in the market?
• 5 Volkswagen special editions about football

The early 2000s were marked by the debut of new factories and a modernization of national cars after the fever of imported cars in the following decade. Here are the 10 most important launches in our market in 2002.

1. Ford Fiesta

Ford obtained incentives from the Bahian government to build a factory in Camaçari. The first product to come out of there was the new generation of the Fiesta, the fifth in the lineage that began in 1976.

The national model had some differences from the European one to reduce costs, but at least it was more beautiful thanks to the headlights with a circular reflector. It has grown in all directions when compared to the previous one and has retained the reliable Zetec Rocam engine.

An innovation was the 1.0 with mechanical compressor, which brought power and torque similar to a 1.4 aspirated. It was a failed attempt to downsizing and keep up with the Gol 1.0 16v Turbo. This Bahian Fiesta also gave rise to a sedan and the EcoSport, the first national compact SUV.

2. Volkswagen Polo

While Ford launched a popular hatch in 2002, Volkswagen brought the Polo positioned as a premium hatch. It never tried to be the successor to the Gol, the proposal was to have a more sophisticated model for those who did not want to have a bigger car like the Golf.

The Pole brought technical innovations such as the ostensible use of laser welding. In the equipment package it brought rare items in compacts such as automatic air conditioning, dual airbags, steering wheel with height and depth adjustment, four-wheel disc brakes, leather seats and electro-hydraulic steering.

3. Chevrolet Corsa

This premium hatch concept debuted in Brazil with the new generation Chevrolet Corsa, second in Brazil and third globally. This car arrived in 2002 just before the Polo.

The old Corsa remained as an entry-level model while the new one took this more refined positioning. The units of the first years of production were more equipped, they even offered the sunroof, Chevrolet took some resources over time to popularize the expensive.

4. Toyota Corolla

The Toyota Corolla began to be made in Brazil in 1998, but it was a discreet and even small car compared to rivals such as the Chevrolet Astra Sedan and the Ford Focus Sedan. Its new generation arrived in Brazil in 2002 and revolutionized the midsize sedan market.

The Corolla got bigger, gained a bold design and greatly improved the quality standard. This generation placed the Toyota sedan as the leader of the medium-sized vehicles, a position it maintains to this day and has only been shaken by the Honda Civic a few times.

5. Nissan Frontier

Nissan started producing cars in Brazil in 2002 with the Frontier, which was made at the commercial vehicle unit of Renault’s plant in Paraná. The pickup arrived with a good restyling and with the well-known MWM Sprint 2.8 turbodiesel engine, the same as the Chevrolet S10.

The choice of engine was well chosen for the brand to consolidate. The Frontier debuted in 2002 with only a double cab and in two versions, the single cab and the XTerra SUV came later.

6. Chevrolet Meriva

The fashion at the time was minivans, to succeed the Chevrolet Corsa Wagon the Meriva was created. This minivan derived from the new generation of the Corsa was designed in Brazil and sold in Europe by Opel, a primacy of our engineering.

The Meriva inaugurated the compact minivan segment and brought some interesting features, such as the modular rear seat and tables for passengers. The engines in 2002 were the 1.8 8-valve or the 1.8 16-valve, both from Family 1.

7. Fiat Stilo

Fiat achieved good sales in the medium hatchback market with the Tipo, but was unable to repeat the success with the Brava. The Stilo was launched in 2002 to try to recover this shine and bother the Volkswagen Golf.

The Fiat Stilo came in line with Europe, with Chevrolet’s reliable 1.8 Family 1 engine and the sporty 2.4 five-cylinder in the Abarth. It could come with eight airbags, a panoramic sunroof, a modular rear seat, two-zone air conditioning, MP3 sound and xenon headlights. It was one of the most sophisticated cars of its time.

8. Mitsubishi Pajero TR4

HPE Automotores began Mitsubishi’s domestic production with the L200 pickup, which received improvements for local tastes. The Pajero iO jeep, which was a sales failure as an import, gained several improvements before being made here as TR4.

The model swapped the 1.8 gasoline for a 2.0 and received good styling touches. The decision was right, the Pajero TR4 was not only a success when new, it still has a legion of fans.

9. Chevrolet Astra GSI

The Chevrolet Astra was nationalized in 1999 with a curious decision: the hatch had only two doors. At that time, four doors were already standard in the segment and even in compacts.

In 2002, Chevrolet brought a restyling to the Astra that included the arrival of the four-door hatch. Along came the GSI model, which became the only one in the range with the 2.0 16v of 136 hp.

10. Peugeot 307

In the early 2000s, the medium hatchback segment was quite relevant. Peugeot launched the 307 in 2002 with great pretensions, to erase the discreet performance that the predecessor 306 had in Brazil.

The hatch started coming from France in a specification designed for Brazil, until it started to be produced in Argentina in 2004. The 307 did not bother the Golf, but it achieved the objective of increasing Peugeot’s share in the market.