Shark Attack: Where Are the Predators in the New Opel Grandland X?

• Easter egg hunt à la Opel: Sharks hidden in Grandland X and Crossland X SUVs
• Family affair: Shark attack also in Opel Corsa, ADAM, Astra, Insignia and Zafira
• Stroke of genius: Boy’s brilliant idea lays groundwork for Opel sharks

Rain, cold, wet snow – in this nasty weather, it’s more likely the Easter eggs will be hidden indoors this weekend. So why not take the Easter egg hunt right to your own Opel and make the catch of the day there? Because that is where Opel designers have secretly tucked away their Easter eggs in the shape of small sharks in various spots in the interior. In models such as the Opel ADAM, Corsa, Astra, Insignia and Zafira, the formidable fish have more or less covertly been making their rounds for years – and now they have also infiltrated the SUV newcomers Crossland X and Grandland X. So Opel fans can go on an exciting shark hunt in seven models from Rüsselsheim. Easter bunnies are out, today Easter sharks are in.

Shark on Sunday: How a young boy’s cool idea came to life

But what started the hidden sharks’ massive popularity at Opel more than one decade ago? Let’s take a quick look back at the long path from the ocean into the car. It all began one Sunday afternoon in 2004 when Opel designer Dietmar Finger was at home working on a sketch for the new Corsa. More precisely, he was considering the rather unspectacular outer panel of the glove box, which is invisible most of the time because it’s completely covered by the closed passenger door. However, when the glove box is opened, this panel must ensure its stability – which it does with ribs integrated in the plastic surface. Dietmar’s job was to design the shape of the ribs, which is what he was doing when his son walked up to him, looked at his sketch, and said “Papa, why don’t you just draw a shark?” “Indeed, why not!” thought the designer, and gave the ribs the shape of a shark! And so an idea and a culture was born. The next day he showed his shark to the Corsa Chief Designer at the time, Niels Loeb, who was immediately sold on the idea. The shark in the glove box went into series production and the ‘Opel Shark’ success story was on its way. Next came the Zafira, where Karim Giordimaina, then in charge of the interior design, hid three sharks within the compact van’s cockpit. More sharks were then given a permanent home, first in the bold Opel ADAM lifestyle car, followed by the current generation of the bestselling Opel Astra and the Opel Insignia flagship.

Passion for details, always approachable: From sharks to life-size Opel models

For today’s Director Interior Design Karim Giordimaina, the shark has become an important identifying feature of Opel over the years – and not just in the glove box. “In the meantime, journalists ask us where the sharks are when we present new models. I always encourage our designers to hide sharks in the interior in all new designs. Because these small, but sweet Easter eggs stand for what distinguishes Opel: We are passionate about every detail of our interiors, fanatic in our pursuit for quality, but always in a fun, approachable way – “menschlich”!

So it’s no wonder that the extremely approachable predators in mini format are also on the prowl in the new SUV models Opel Grandland X and Opel Crossland X. Thanks to the help from Karim Giordimaina, it’s easy to guess where the shark in the Crossland X is on the photos. But there is also a shark hidden in the sporty, elegant Grandland X… a good opportunity to go on an Easter shark hunt with the family and discover the SUV newcomer from completely new and unexpected perspectives!

Further information about official fuel consumption, official specific CO2 emissions and consumption of electric energy can be found in the “guideline about fuel consumption, CO2 Emissions and electric energy consumption of new passenger cars” ('Leitfaden über den Kraftstoffverbrauch, die CO2-Emissionen und den Stromverbrauch neuer Personenkraftwagen') in German language, which is available free of charge at any point of sales and at DAT Deutsche Automobil Treuhand GmbH, Helmuth-Hirth-Straße 1, D-73760 Ostfildern.