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NEWS
SPY PICS: Opel Astra's starring part
GM's German-branded small car may yet reprise its role as a volume-selling small HoldenThe history of the Astra nameplate in Australia is long and convoluted. And it's not likely to get any simpler if Holden re-introduces the small car to the Australian market around the time the company closes down its local manufacturing operations.
Holden has already announced that the Astra will return in hot hatch form, but with Opel's Cascada and Insignia models also in the wings, could Holden be considering volume-selling Astra models in the range as well?
If so, the car pictured here, courtesy of the spy snappers at Automedia, will reach Australia within the next few years, wearing Holden badges. As long as the Aussie dollar remains strong (and the Euro is held back by on-going economic woes in the EU), the Astra might meet with more success in the small car segment than it did during the final years of the AH model sold here until 2009.
In our previous article we speculated that the new Astra might compete directly with premium small car offerings like Golf, Focus and Mazda3 – leaving the Cruze to tough it out with downmarket offerings in the small-car segment.
Taken one step further, Holden – which is saying goodbye to locally-manufactured Cruze in 2017 after all – may decide to inter the Cruze name altogether, leaving the Astra as its one and only small-car entrant.
The timing could be fortuitous for Holden. It's packing up the Elizabeth plant, where Cruze is currently built on the same production line as Commodore in 2017. Relaunching the Astra here could be delayed until local manufacturing of the Cruze ceases, avoiding cannibalisation of Aussie car sales by the import. And Holden hasn't committed to building the Cruze all the way through to 2017 either.
This new Astra – long overdue while Opel scraped together some post-GFC pennies for R&D – will be built on GM's D2XX modular platform, which will also underpin the next Cruze and Captiva. It's anticipated to make its global debut at the Paris motor show later this year, and Holden has extended an invite to local media organisations to attend the show.
If it is difficult to tell the new Astra from the old, that's because Opel has reportedly chosen an 'evolutionary' look for the new car, since the current model was well received and remains relatively popular in its homeland. Underneath, however, the new Astra stands to be lighter by 50 to 100kg. In addition to the lift-back coupes already mentioned, the Astra will be available in hatch, sedan and wagon body styles, with a range of fuel-efficient three and four-cylinder engines on tap.
And with all that in its repertoire, the car that has been farewelled more often than Dame Nellie Melba might just warrant an encore in Holden showrooms.
– with Automedia
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Written byCarsales Staff
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