When the new Opel Astra it made its official world debut earlier this month it soaked up much of the limelight, and much of that hype can be attributed to its list of features normally found on more expensive vehicles like massaging seats, lane-keep assist and IntelliLux Matrix headlights. The fact Opel has already received over 30,000 orders certainly hasn’t hurt, either.
And that’s great news for GM fans here in North America, as the new vehicle may eventually show up here as a new Buick model.
The Astra debuted in hatchback and Sports Tourer forms and Opel has plans to add a coupe and four-door sedan, which would be the pair most likely to come our shores, according to Car and Driver. We also expect it will wear the brand’s new Avenir-style wing-plus-waterfall grille and new tri-shield badge when it arrives. A next-generation Buick Verano, perhaps?
Foreign it may be, but peel back the Astra’s sheetmetal and it looks awfully similar to the new Chevrolet Cruze and Volt. as all three ride on GM’s new, lightweight D2XX vehicle platform.
The European Opel-Vauxhall Astra gets its power from a range of engines and as of now the most powerful is the new turbocharged 1.6L direct-injection I4 with 197 hp. With that in mind, it’s easy to imagine any Astra’s headed to our shores will be powered by a yet-unannounced engine that kicks out at least 200 hp. Clearly, Opel knows we love us some horsepower.
While we’d love to see Opel import a diesel variant, we highly doubt any OEMs in Europe are ready to export their diesel engines with “Dieselgate” currently on the boil.
In the meantime, let’s just be happy if the new Opel Astra makes it to North American shores at all.
Comments
But if it does, who’s going to be the main competitor? Since there’s going to be the Cruze Hatchback that’s also playing the same field as the Golf?
That’s the problem in pricing this car. If GM is smart, they’ll keep it in-line with the Saturn Astra, instead of trying to vault the price into Acura territory.
The Saturn Astra was right there with mainstream hatches as it relates to pricing. The new Cruze hatch will occupy that space, giving the Buick Verano hatch (Astra hatch) room to move upmarket.
So… the primary competitor could be the departing Acura TSX wagon and maybe the Volvo V60. After all, it is a Buick, and it should have some decent luxury content. No?
Barely related: I saw this exact car drive by me the other day. And then I saw the Ford Emblem. WTF was I looking at?
such an attractive small car. This should’ve been here Ages ago. In Canada there are so many Ford focuses, Mazda threes on the road. If they didn’t ship out and run a great version of this it would sell
This car is essentially a Cruze. The current Cruze is a very strong competitor and actually outsell the focus in Canada.
Yes many of these new models will show up here as they were built from start as a Global NA car. GM could have modified the old cars for a couple years or wait for the new cars that were built right from the start.
We will see many changes with the new platforms.
One can only hope. But it would be nice to get the hatchback. Better looking and more serviceable than the sedan. What is it with Americans and trunks?
Yeah. There’s an addiction with sedans in the U.S. But the increasing popularity of crossovers is ironic. People think they’re buying an SUV, when in fact they’re buying a raised hatchback or wagon.
The sedan version is coming as a Verano anyway. My hopes are placed on the coupe arriving, even if it’s a 3-door coupe, which would be perfect to compete with the upper trims of the 3-door VW Golf and Scirocco. I think the next few years ae going to be very interesting for Buick’s 2-door offerings.