I also like the Echo, very roomy inside and very ergonomic and a friend who races sa rally cross tried his daily-driven Echo (with the missus) on the track and according to him it felt very stable even with its relatively high CG.

Don't be fooled into thinking / believeing that the Opel is a German car (like a Benz / BMW is), with fine German engineering and all that nonesense the sales people will tell you. I'm not saying hindi maganda mga Opel. I'm just saying that Opel is regular/default motoring choice for Europeans, as Nissans, Mitsu's, Hondas, Toyotas, Mazdas etc. are to us. And a lot of Europeans buy them because of their cheap and easy financing deals sa Europe, not because they are models of efficiency, dependability, servicing and maintenance costs and performance.

Its designed to be a mass market vehicle / brand, not a full-on luxury vehicle like its other German stablemates.

Don't think of the Opels as a cheaper version of a BMW/Merc. Its more like a slightly more expensive / more exclusive option in a market dominated by Honda and Toyota. :D