Opel Australia secures latest Astra for September launch

Opel Australia has confirmed the latest iteration of the Astra will be sold in Australia when the car hits local showrooms in September. Included in the local lineup will be the versatile Tourer (wagon).

Bill Mott, Opel Australia Managing Director, says support from Germany has enabled production for Australian delivered cars to be brought forward to ensure the refreshed model comes our way. “The timing for our local launch could not be more ideal, in allowing us the opportunity to bring the freshest Astra face to market from the outset,” he said.

“It’s a clear sign of the importance placed on both the Astra in our model line-up, and our local launch overall, that production for Australia has been expedited to allow us to launch the updated Astra at the same time as Germany.”

It’s a shame that no word, yet, has come forward confirming the hot 206kW/400Nm Astra OPC for Australia. Although, we reckon the less exciting Tourer is still quite a nice thing.

Opel Astra GTC

Opel Astra Hatch

Opel Astra Tourer

Opel Astra OPC

All New and Never Better: Updated Opel Astra to Join Australian Launch Line-Up

• Sleek design enhancements on both exterior and interior
  
• Customer- friendly innovations rarely seen in the segment
  
• Newly enhanced Astra variants will be launched in Australia in September

June 15 2012 – Opel Australia Managing Director, William (Bill) Mott, was today pleased to confirm the news that Australia will be launching with the newest Astra Hatch and Tourer.

“The timing for our local launch could not be more ideal, in allowing us the opportunity to bring the freshest Astra face to market from the outset,” he said.

“It’s a clear sign of the importance placed on both the Astra in our model line-up, and our local launch overall, that production for Australia has been expedited to allow us to launch the updated Astra at the same time as Germany.”

In Germany, Opel is enhancing its successful, award-winning compact bestseller and is making the new Astra line-up even more sporty and diverse. A sharper exterior and interior appearance underscores the sportiness and technical strengths of the compact car line. With the new sedan, the five-door variant, the Sports Tourer station wagon and the three-door GTC coupé, as well as its high performance OPC version, the diverse Astra line-up is now complete for European launch.

The Opel CEO, Karl-Friedrich Stracke: “The new Opel Astra line-up is off to a flying start with a broader model spectrum as well as a greatly expanded offer of highly efficient engines and innovative assistance technologies. The sharper, updated design underscores our claim to offer the most emotional execution of German engineering in the hotly contested compact segment.”

With this greatly enhanced new Astra line-up, Opel is building on the success of its award-winning compact bestseller, which won numerous awards including the prestigious German Golden Steering Wheel (2009), and which was recently recognized with the best rating in the 2012 DEKRA award for used car quality.

The Astra model family is a key component of the Opel brand. Around a third of all Opel cars sold worldwide are Astras. Opel is now into its tenth generation of vehicles in the compact segment and its fourth Astra generation, which has gained more than 641,000 customers across Europe. This means that the Astra is the European number three ranked vehicle (and in Germany, number two ranked) according to sales, in the largest vehicle segment in Europe which makes up around a quarter of the entire marketplace.