It's either another classic case of penny pinching/quest for standardised globalised vehicles all over the world (think handbrakes, fuel fillers, indicators, side opening tailgates,...) - or else not really much of an issue.

All the publicity shots I've seen of the Meriva (including the promotional video at www.vauxhall.co.uk) show the driver's side wiper uppermost, but if the actual production cars have the passenger's side wiper sitting above - as with the Picasso etc. - then there is only a small unswept strip of screen at the top of the driver's line of vision, which is a problem for taller than average drivers and plane spotters.

At least it's not as bad as some 1970s efforts at "standardisation", with Peugeot, Citroen, Audi, VW, BMW, Volvo and our very own dear British Leyland all doing their darnedest to obstruct our view on rainy days. The Seat Altea/Toledo has the best "ambidextrous" wiper set up I've ever seen; absolutely brilliant design.

It's one of those things that sounds as if it shouldn't be much of an issue - until you have to live with it.

I had a Mercedes B-class with clap-hands wipers, where the driver's wiper was shorter than the passenger's, and parked lower, so that you got an unwiped area all down the right hand side of the screen as well as at the top. The passenger (LHD driver) was catered for admirably. When you pay Mercedes prices you should expect that the wipers would be converted for RHD.

BMW amazingly convert the 3-series wipers but not the 5 and 7 series. Anyone know the logic behind that? - I have no idea.