burlapp car

All new Opel Astra

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It looks pretty much like the thousands of illustrations we’ve seen of it in the past 2 years.
This was supposed to make it over here as a Saturn.
Now, who knows…

There will be a sedan version for some markets, so that version might still make it over here. But as what?
A small Buick???

Conversation 13 comments

  2. Yes Vince. It will make it to the US in sedan form only as a Buick.

    The interior will likely stay as is, but the front and rear fascias will be tweaked for Buick Duty.

    Wait for this to come Stateside in 2011-ish and carry a starting price around $19-20K — a significant sum for a compact car, but one that will be “luxury” appointed.

    With this entry, Buick will finally have a decent luxury compact to sell against the S40, TSX, and others.

    Good for GM.

  4. Blacklaser… the subaru impreza, one egg and the astra. All of them have the same mother…a chicken.

  7. I think GM should give the next gen Astra sedan and 5-door to Buick and position them to compete against the Mazda3 sedan/5-door and the Jetta/Golf 5-door. It looks like the next gen Astra sedan and 5-door will be much more attractive than either one of these proposed competitors.

    Pontiac should get the next gen Astra (or Calibra?) coupe to solidify its position as a sporty niche sub-brand. TopSpeed and other websites have claimed that Opel is resurrecting the Calibra name for a Delta II based coupe. This product would be perfect for Pontiac.

    The Chevrolet Cruze would naturally be positioned to compete against the more mainstream Corolla and Civic sedan.

  8. Hey Vince, I owned one of these small hatchbacks way back in 1996. It was called the Saturn SW2 and I always got over 30 MPG. GM axed a good thing, that got great mileage and was a practical people mover and now they are paying the price!

  9. isn’t this company set to close by may? gm bosses said so. Saturn is finished. kind of sad. many years ago i was going to invest in saturn. i am sorry for all the saturn dealers.

  10. Making this a small buick and charging 19-20 thousand? Sounds like this car found a better fit because this price point was out of place for saturn anyway. I’m happy to hear that there will not be much of a difference in price in comparison to the saturn version, I’m sure there will be more standard features to more than justify the price. The Astra was priced out of its market as a Saturn. Buick needs a “small car” to lure people to the brand to maintain long time consumers who will “move up” within the brand. I’m sure GM will find some way to mess this up.

  13. I think it looks really good. Buyers in the USA won’t get it unless Opel will import their cars to US-shores. Opel won’t be part of the GM-Family anymore when it comes out. Hopefully.

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