Imagine: you’re a General Motors engineer, testing the latest, upcoming product that has been banished from public eyes. Yet, suddenly, a camera is snapping photos of you and the car. What kind of face do you make? Why, the face of this poor lad, of course.
This guy looks genuinely shocked to have been spied by Carscoops, outside of this performance-oriented Opel Astra hatch. But, there’s something even more awe-inducing than the man’s face. The front grille is decidedly a Buick waterfall design. Could it be a ruse, or does Opel have plans to grace the U.S. with Buick hot hatch?
The newly introduced 2016 Opel Astra K wears a much slimmer, chrome-stripped grille, while this piece is much larger and clearly shows the vertical waterfall styling cues.
It may be a simple trick to fool those with eagle eyes, or a massive hint something different is coming to fill a niche in GM’s U.S. portfolio, or possibly China’s.
As for the car itself, this is most likely the Opel Astra GSi, a less hopped up performance variant to better tackle Ford’s inbound hot hatches. The Astra GSi should take on the Focus ST, while as Astra OPC will do battle with the upcoming Focus RS.
There’s a lot going on here, and much to take in. Do you feel a performance hatchback would fit in Buick’s lineup? Talk to us down below and let us know.
Comments
This is a great looking little car. I would love to see one wearing a Chevrolet Bow Tie !!!
Why does it need to be a Chevy, what’s wrong with Buick getting some unique product? Chevy does not need one of everything that GM makes. Besides, they will be getting a Cruze hatch anyway.
Wow, that guy looks quite alarmed, which is kind of funny and sad at the same time. This will definitely be a Buick to the Chinese, but the question is will we get one too?
It is the best photo of a GM engineer freaking out… ever.
Verano GS. And yes, we’re supposed to get one. Supposed to take on Focus ST and fill the gaping hole of HHR SS too.
Just too bad it won’t have the Focus RS-style rear-biasable AWD.
I don’t think that US will seen this car or the Astra K in common.
The new Astra was designed for Europe-only and is underpinned by a European Version of the D2-platform.
So it will not fulfill the American safety requirements.
Buick should be challenging Lincoln, not Ford as this is the role of Chevrolet.
This beautiful hot hatch needs to be slightly reworked, and sold as Cruze hatch in N America.
Chevrolet wouldn’t be the first carmaker to mix product. The US Elantra hatch is the i30 in Europe. Luckily, Astra has a very neutral design language.
I thought GM was federalizing all Opel products, German?