SPY PICS: Next-gen Opel/Holden Astra reprise

Opel has taken on new meaning since Holden began activating its plans to shut down its local manufacturing operations in 2017. And these images of the next-generation Astra, courtesy of the spy photographers at Automedia, taken on a whole new significance as a consequence.

After a failed stint marketed here under Opel's own brand a couple of years back, the products of the German wing of General Motors are returning to Australia. The Cascada convertible and the three-door Astra OPC and GTC hatchback variants – as well as other models from the Opel portfolio including a flagship version of the Camry-size Insignia sedan, plus an all-new luxury SUV – will be badged and sold here as Holdens.

And in Germany, Opel is working towards delivering an all-new Astra by the time Holden closes its doors on local production. The next Astra is likely to be handed the task of providing Holden with upmarket, sporting versions (like the upcoming OPC for example), leaving bread-and-butter family-car duties to the Cruze range – the next generation of which is also under development in Europe. It's understood both Astra and Cruze will be built off the same light-weight D2XX platform.

These photos provide at least a clear view of the sculpting of the new Astra, if not of details such as the front and rear-end graphics. As we've reported previously, the K series Astra focusses on evolutionary development, with much of the new technology expected to exist out of sight, in the driveline and the structural elements.

Like the current Astra, the new K series will come in hatchback, wagon, coupe and sedan forms, with power provided by the new generation of three and four-cylinder engines already in use in various Opel models.