Opel Will Risk Becoming A ‘Hello, Fellow Kids’ Meme To Sell You A Mokka-E

Opel really wants young people to buy its new Mokka-e, the fully electrified version of its redesigned SUV. And it’s decided the best way to attract younger drivers is by hosting a house party and telling them to “SHUT UP & DANCE.”

Opel has enlisted a handful of DJs to host a six-hour long house music party that you can join and tune into from the comfort of, well, your house. This is really just a flashy ad campaign intended to sell the Mokka-e to the youths:

The dance party is set for this upcoming Friday, which falls on April 9, at 07:00PM CET. That’s Central European Time. That’s 01:00PM ET for all you Mokka-e, EDM fans tuning in from the U.S. Yeah, it’s a little early for a dance party, but you’re invited nonetheless!

The whole angle is a little gimmicky, but it’s a safe way to — at the very least — feel like you’re interacting with others during this collective health crisis. And the Mokka-e that Opel is pushing at this rave is a cool car with a rad paint finish.

The redesigned Mokka was announced last year and Opel confirmed then that the subcompact SUV would be available either as a BEV or ICE model. The EV gets a characteristic letter “e” appended to its name. I would complain about the typical suffix, but I can forgive Opel its faux pas for the glorious paint.

Other cool stuff about the Mokka-e is the fascia the little crossover wears. It’s the same front-end as the one on the Manta GSe ElektroMOD, which the carmaker says will be a staple of its new car designs. The Mokka-e makes about 134 horsepower and 192 lb-ft of torque. Its 50 kWh battery will get about 200 miles of range based on WLTP estimates. In Germany, the Mokka-e starts at €34,110 or about $40,500, including VAT.

I wish I could say easily that this Mokka might come Stateside, like the first-generation did as the Buick Encore. Since GM cut Opel loose to what was then Peugeot-Citroën Groupe PSA and is now Stellantis, that question opens a whole other can of worms.

Go ahead, Opel. Get weird with it and dance. Though, I will say this: Dance parties are not the best way to sell EVs to young people because they can dance if they want to with or without carmakers. The best way to sell EVs to young people is by making EVs affordable. As in less than $25,000 affordable.