Category: Opel

Opel Australia has confirmed they will be adding the three door GTC hatch to its range when the Astra launches here towards the end of the year.

Bill Mott, Opel Australia Managing Director, says the GTC is the pinnacle of the Astra line, “Opel designers wanted the Astra GTC to be the ultimate expression of Opel’s design language ‘sculptural artistry meets German precision’ and to embody our passion for the automobile.

“We are excited to be able to present this dynamic car to Australians, as it offers the ideal blend of emotion and functionality, and expect our ‘hot hatch’ to bring a breath of fresh air into the sports compact segment.”

In overseas markets the GTC is available with four engine choices, we can’t see all four making it to Australia. Our guess is Opel Australia will market the car against the Volkswagen Golf GTI and Renault Megane RS 250. Therefore we expect to see the top of the range 1.6 litre turbo with 132kW/230Nm. We may get a diesel-powered GTC too.

The petrol model is a little underpowered compared to the Golf GTI (155kW/280Nm) and Megane RS250 (184kW/340Nm). It will need to be sharply priced to seriously tempt buyers away from established hot hatch benchmarks.

Opel revealed the production version of its three-door Astra GTC at Frankfurt last month. Here’s a few pics we’ve raided from the Vauxhall press gallery. Also included are three videos showing the car in a real world context.

Speaking about the launch of the GTC, Opel Australia Managing Director, Bill Mott, said “Astra GTC is a stunning car and highlights the ‘emotional design’ that underpins the Opel brand together with the dynamic driving performance that will come with the state-of-the art chassis and sporty suspension.

“GTC is a totally different concept compared to traditional three-door models. It will launch in Europe before the end of the year with a range of powertrain combinations and we’ll be looking at it closely for the Australian market.”

Opel Australia will launch their product range next year. Bill Mott, Opel Australia Managing Director, used the recent Frankfurt Motor Show to confirm Australia’s model line-up.

According to Opel over two-thirds of new car sales in Australia are from the small to medium segments. So it’s no surprise that the expected line-up of Insignia, Astra and Corsa has been confirmed.

“We’re able to draw from our European portfolio and offer the right mix of models that will appeal to Australian customers and hit the sweet spot for these segments,” Mr Mott said.

“Opel will offer a great range of body styles, powertrains and specification levels across Corsa, Astra and Insignia from launch which will be a solid foundation for the brand and position us well for long-term success.”

It looks like the key brand message Opel Australia will employ is to drive home the German connection.

Already Bill Mott is on message, “Australia is one of the most competitive automotive markets in the world with a real appetite for European, and particularly, German marques.

“Australians will quickly discover that Opel delivers on the promise of German engineering, but not in a conservative way.”

You’ll also be seeing a lot of these words too, Wir leben Autos. In case you’re wondering that means we live and breathe cars.

More from Opel after the break, including brief outlines of expected engines to be offered from launch and the future product plans beyond 2012.

According to GoAuto the Opel Astra, due in Australia in 2012, is expected to carry a $3500 price premium over its locally built Holden Cruze cousin. That’s likely to put the Astra right in the firing line of the Volkswagen Golf.

It;s understood the entry-level Astra will be fitted with a 103kW/200Nm turbocharged four cylinder, with a predicted price tag of around $26,000. That places the model in between the $24,990 Golf 90TSI and $29,490 Golf 118TSI.

Holden’s boss Mike Devereux was talking about the Astra at the launch of the Cruze II. He explained, “The plan for the two brands—Holden and Opel—would be to have intelligent price points, intelligent approaches to content and technology.”

Therefore, we can expect the Astra models to be well equipped in order to offer value for the extra asking price. Devereux acknowledges the Opel won’t dislodge established players Toyota and Mazda from the top of the sales charts and has set his sights on annual sales in the 7,000-10,000 region.

[Source: GoAuto]