Opel Astra Interior Unveiled

With Canadian supplier Magna International striking a prelimary deal with General Motors to purchase the Opel brand, launches are still going forward as usual. One of Opel's most important cars if it ever is to be successful is the new Astra.

In Europe, small-segment cars are much bigger then they ever have been historically in the United States and that puts an even higher imperative on producing a solid entry. The Astra has done very well in the past, but with stiff competition like the Golf, the new model has to deliver.

That it does! What an impressive interior! The design and execution is a better than a lot of mid-size car interiors sold in the United States. I clearly see a lot of inspiration taken from the Insignia, which makes sense given that the Insignia was the first to debut Opel's new design direction.

GM would have done well to get more of Opel's design and engineering philosophy ingrained into cars destined for the North American market.

If the whole Saturn-Opel thing panned out, we would have been getting this car in the United States. What a shame! Furthermore, Magna's deal with Opel precludes them from selling in the United States so it's unlikely we'll ever see it unless GM decides to bring it as a new Buick small car.

I think it could work quite well as a Buick, but the styling language would need to change a bit to bring it in line with the Enclave and new LaCrosse.