General Motors South Africa (GMSA) has announced that it will be introducing the new Opel Astra to South Africa in the first quarter of 2011. GMSA says the decision by parent company General Motors to retain the Opel brand and improved business conditions in general have opened up new opportunities in South Africa for the Opel brand.

“The certainty around the future of Opel is great news for South Africa and allows us to build on the fine history of the Opel brand and the Corsa and Astra ranges,” says GMSA Vice President of Planning, Ian Nicholls.

The introduction of the new Opel Astra to South Africa will continue a legacy in the compact car segment that started with the Kadett. The German engineered vehicle promises to carry on the success story of previous generation Opels in South Africa. The Astra is more spacious than ever, thanks to its longer wheelbase and greater width.

The new car will be offered with four new ECOTEC petrol engines, specifically a 1,4-litre, 1,4-litre turbo, 1,6-litre and 1,6-litre turbo. The new engines are expected to offer a balance between economy and performance. The diesel engine line up consists of 1,3-litre, 1,7-litre and 2,0-litre common rail engines. The average fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of the Euro 5 compliant engines have been cut by nearly 12 percent.

Powertrains and model specifications for the South African market have not yet been announced. When the new Opel Astra goes on sale in South Africa in 2011 it will complement the existing range of Opel products like the Corsa 3 door and 5 door, the Vivaro MPV/Van, and the Combo panel van.

General Motors South Africa (GMSA) has announced that the country’s top selling sub-1 ton pick-up, the Corsa Utility, will join the Chevrolet product line-up from the beginning of May 2010. The popular half-ton pick-up joins the brutish Chevrolet Lumina Ute within the Chevrolet Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) product range.

Introduced in late 2004, the latest generation Corsa Utility has been the sales leader in its segment for the past 60 months, with 150 000 units on our roads. A big part of this success is its car like interior, load carrying ability, style, specification, and safety. A feature rich specification list across the range provides appeal for the serious business user while providing a comfortable second car option for the private buyer, where it fills both utility and leisure vehicle roles.

The seat travel accommodates the tallest of drivers in comfort without compromise. Equally generous is headroom and shoulder room. Interior storage, often a shortcoming in all pick-ups, is well catered for with a voluminous storage space behind the seats.

Produced at the same GM factory in Struandale, Port Elizabeth, the Opel Corsa Utility, will be branded Chevrolet Corsa Utility. The only difference to the vehicle will be the gold ‘bowtie’ logo, which replaces the chrome Opel logo, said Malcolm Gauld, General Motors South Africa (GMSA) vice president of sales and marketing. “This change is in line with the global positioning of the brand. South Africa is the only market where the vehicle is branded Opel, in all other markets it is branded Chevrolet”, Gauld explained.

Meanwhile, Gauld says Opel remains an important part of GMSA’s future with the Corsa passenger vehicle remaining part of the Opel stable. “Corsa in particular has been a very important player in our Opel passenger vehicle offering in South Africa. The recently revised Corsa line up includes the new 1.4 powertrain improving power output from 66 kW to 74 kW”, said Gauld. GMSA will continue to offer an extensive range of petrol and diesel Corsa Utility models.

British summertime may have begun, but Vauxhall’s latest addition to the VXR range (Opel OPC range to South Africans) still looks cooler than the country’s recent snowstorms, yet its performance is as hot as ever.

Priced a fraction above the cost of the more standard Astra VXR – each of the 500 Arctic Editions are painted in Olympic White with a contrasting black painted roof, mirror covers, front V-grille and tailgate trim, ensuring that this version of the Astra VXR looks like no other.

Each Arctic Edition also gets a healthy does of options included in its price. Heated leather Recaro front seats, tinted glass and Black 19-inch multi-spoke alloy wheels all form part of the Astra VXR Arctic Edition’s armoury.

And for the first time on a VXR product, customers can also specify their Arctic Edition with the Panoramic Windscreen, an option that offers a window on the world that extends back over the front seats with heat-absorbing glass. And if the skies are grim, a full-length shading system with pull-out sunblinds is also included.

Of course, none of this diminishes the Astra VXR Arctic Edition’s exceptional performance. With 177 kW of power and 320 N.m of torque between 2 400 and 5 000rpm, it’ll hit a top speed of 243 km/h, with 100 km/h arriving from standstill in just 6.2 seconds. Lowered and uprated sports suspension, ultra-low profile 235/35 x 19 tyres and 321 mm front ventilated brakes discs complete the Arctic Edition’s dynamic package.

With Opel being on-hold in SA at the moment, the Astra OPC getting a bit ‘long in the tooth’ and Europe having launched a Nurburgring Edition and now the Arctic Edition, we really think Opel SA should consider an exclusive, limited edition, SA only, Superboss, or motorsport inspired Astra GTC OPC.

We recently received an email from one of you, our readers, on behalf of all Opel fans in the country, asking that we cover more news of the all-new, and good looking, Opel Astra.

It’s not that we’ve been ignoring developments on the Opel front, it’s just that, well, here in sunny SA there haven’t been any. When we spoke with the new president and MD of General Motors South Africa (GMSA), Edgar Lourencon, towards the end of last year, he said that the costs of bringing the new Astra range to our market are simply too high at this point in time.

But being unable to compete due to high production costs is only part of the Opel story. Since the financial crisis began towards the end of 2008, Opel AG has been on a rocky road and was on the brink of being sold off by General Motors, the summary of which you can see here.

However, since GM has decided to retain the brand in its global product mix, changes are afoot within the German automaker. Opel’s new business plan reportedly foresees the manufacturer reaching break-even by 2011 and becoming profitable by 2012. Opel CEO, Nick Reilly, has outlined the company’s future plans in a video interview, which you can watch here.

 

But as the headline suggests, what’s happening with the brand in South Africa and what do the plans and changes in Europe mean for us locally? We contacted GMSA’s product communications manager, Des Fenner, to share your sentiments and ours, around the new Astra and the future of Opel SA in general. Here is what he had to say:

“We at GMSA also think that the New Astra is the ‘real deal’. It is a great product that has done extremely well since it was introduced in Europe. We also know, understand and appreciate the loyal Opel followers that we have in the SA market. We still continue to supply the older version of the Astra into the market as well as the new Opel Corsa.

Yes, we have been forced to cut down on our range available to the local market and this has been as a direct result of poor economics. We need to be able to bring this great Opel product to market, at competitive prices. Unfortunately, it does not make good business sense to bring a particular product into a specific segment of the market and having to sell it at a premium price, where no loyal consumer can afford to purchase it. High source cost and exchange rates have been our biggest enemy in this area.

The good news is that GMSA is working closely with the new Opel management team in Europe, to work through the obstacles, to try and bring more great Opel products to the SA market. This process is not as easy as it may sound, but we continue to try our utmost best to satisfy you and all of those other loyal GMSA and Opel fans out there!”

So unfortunately it seems to be a case of ‘hurry up and wait’. On the plus side, the Opel Corsa still looks fresh and we hear the OPC is a flier. We know our Astra is now a generation behind that of Europe, but like most cars, it will still look good until the new model arrives and only then will be perceived as old.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the new Astra’s delay resulted in a limited production run of a Superboss inspired Astra GTC OPC, exclusive to South Africa. After all, Europe has the Nürburgring Edition.

Send us your comments on the current Astra – is it showing its age or could it survive another year in the market place? Are you an Opel fanatic and if so, how long would you wait for new models to arrive before considering a switch to a new car with another manufacturer?

The Vauxhall Ampera will be unveiled along with Vauxhall Meriva compact MPV at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show.

The Ampera, which is scheduled for production late next year, is a five-door, four-seater with same design DNA as the latest Astra and Insignia. The Ampera uses extended-range electric vehicle (E-REV) technology, or E-REV. This means the Ampera will use electricity as its primary power source, supplemented by a small engine to generate electricity for its motors when electric power runs low. This helps the Ampera overcome the ‘range anxiety’ issues associated with pure electric cars.

Details about the Ampera, such as a proposed range, top speed or charging cycle, have not been disclosed but expect these and other questions to be answered at Geneva in March.

The countdown has begun in preparation for the 2010 World Car of the Year (WCOTY) and Performance Car of the Year (PCOTY) awards ceremony that will be taking place on April 1 at the 2010 New York Auto Show.

A total of 31 cars made up the original list of candidates for the 2010 World Car category, while 15 cars made up the list for the 2010 Performance Car category, but now these lists have been whittled down to just ten finalists.

Now in their seventh year, the World and Performance Car of the Year awards are an independent global accreditation to name the best new car on the market, as selected by a voter group made up of established automotive journalists from around the globe.

To be eligible, a car has to be in production and sold in at least five countries and on two continents, which meant many American manufactured cars didn’t make the list. The final winners will be picked by a team of 59 judges and announced during April’s New York event, however, the list will be whittled down even further to just three finalists in both categories at next month’s 2010 Geneva Motor Show.

Also running once again for this year’s event are the additional World Green Car and World Car Design of the Year awards. Last year, the Volkswagen Golf 6 drove off with the World Car title, while the mighty Nissan GT-R supercar took top honours in the Performance Car segment.

2010 World Car of the Year top ten finalists:

• Audi Q5
• BMW X1
• Chevrolet Cruze
• Kia Soul
• Mazda3
• Mercedes-Benz E-Class
• Opel/Vauxhall Insignia / Buick Regal
• Porsche Panamera
• Toyota Prius
• Volkswagen Polo

2010 Performance Car of the Year top ten finalists:

• Aston Martin V12 Vantage
• Audi R8 V10
• Audi TT RS Coupé / Roadster
• BMW Z4
• Ferrari California
• Jaguar XFR
• Lotus Evora
• Mercedes-Ben z E 63 AMG
• Nissan 370 Z
• Porsche 911 GT3
• Porsche Boxster / Cayman

Adapted from MotorAuthority

It’s no secret that GM’s eleventh hour decision to keep Opel left many in Germany, both public and private, feeling a bit burned. But Nick Reilly, the new Opel CEO, isn’t running from the issue. In fact, he’s addressing it head on.

He’s saying it’s time to end the usual blame-shifting tactics within GM’s European branch. The ultimate problem, he says, was the bureaucratic culture that found roots in the company. With Reilly’s appointment, he’s looking to change that, and that means taking responsibility for the company’s failures as well as its successes.

At this early stage, that amounts to little more than a lot of flowery talk, however. If Reilly’s enthusiasm should bear fruit, it might serve to ease some of the fears in Germany’s auto workers unions and within the German government. On the other hand, the realities of adjusting Opel’s capacity to fit the smaller global marketplace may leave Reilly no alternative but to make unpopular cuts.

And that may be the darker side of the responsibility Reilly is talking about assuming. Opel’s German workforce is about 25 000 members strong, and despite an announcement last week upon taking the reins that no product engineers would lose their jobs, there’s still a very real possibility that capacity – and therefore jobs – will have to be cut.

On the up side however, there are some bright spots in the product portfolio, including the new Insignia sedan/wagon, which have been on the road for just about a year in Europe now. Headed to the U.S. largely unchanged as the 2011 Buick Regal, the Insignia could speak well for the future of Opel. The new Astra, which will also spawn a Buick variant that shares much with the Cruze as well, could also point the direction toward a future that doesn’t require drastic cuts.

Whatever the next few months may hold for Opel, it’s looking like the new leadership may be just what the company needs to shed its tired, near-bankruptcy image.

Adapted from MotorAuthority

General Motors Company has regained full control of its Opel brand after paying back 1.5 billion Euro in emergency loan, including interest. The move dissolves a trust that held a 65 percent stake in the European carmaker.

“The shares in Adam Opel GmbH were returned to GM,” the German economics ministry said in a statement on Monday.

GM lost majority control of Opel in June, when the German government agreed to provide the Detroit automaker with a 6-month emergency loan to Opel, hours before GM filed for a pre-packaged bankruptcy.

The main idea behind the trust was to monitor Opel’s liquidity and oversee the sale of a majority stake to a new investor. Earlier this month GM’s board of directors decided to keep Opel and restructure it, terminating plans to sell the brand to Magna International.

Via egmCarTech

Opel is not for sale – so says General Motors which has cancelled any plans to sell a stake in its European car business Opel, including its UK brand Vauxhall.

The US giant claimed “an improving business environment for GM over the past few months” was the reason for its decision not to sell to Canadian car parts firm Magna. It also stated that both Vauxhall and Opel were important to its global strategy.

The move was broadly welcomed by business secretary Lord Mandelson, although he said he was “keen for very early discussions” to discover how it would affect British plants and workers at Ellesmere Port – which makes the new Astra – and the Luton van plant.

GM now has to ask for more state aid from European governments to keep Vauxhall and Opel afloat, a task that’s looking increasingly difficult as an angry German government has asked GM to repay 1.5bn euros in bridging loans from its banks following the failed sale.

However, the non-sale has not come as a surprise to many industry analysts, who said that it was only being forced upon GM because of its financial situation in the US. Indeed, Magna co-chief executive officer Siegfried Wolf said: “We understand… it was in GM’s best interests to retain Opel. We will continue to support Opel and GM in the challenges ahead,” he added.

Via AutoExpress

Swedish automaker Koenigsegg has secured what it needs to make Saab an all Sweden affair once again, courtesy of the Swedish government. The government of Sweden has guaranteed a US$600 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB), which is scheduled to make a final decision regarding the loan by the 21st of October.

A preliminary agreement reached in June, set forth the plan to purchase Saab from GM, dependant upon the EIB loan. Under the terms of the agreement, GM will continue to feed parts and technology to Saab. Also, part of the agreement is a proposed partnership between Koenigsegg and China’s state-owned Beijing Auto, that would give the Chinese company a minority interest in Koenigsegg. Beijing Auto is partnered in China with Hyundai and Daimler.

Beijing Auto has proposed to build Saab vehicles in China and expressed interest in acquiring GM technology for its own vehicles. In the past, Beijing Auto tried to acquire Opel from GM, and Volvo from Ford.

Adapted from egmCarTech

The International Motor Show, or Frankfurt Motor Show, is the world’s largest motor show. It is held every two years in Frankfurt, Germany and this year, from 17 – 27 of September, the 63rd exhibition takes place.

The 2010 Volkswagen R20 Golf, Mini Coupe Concept, Fiat Punto Evo, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG and brand new Bugatti Bordeaux car are just a few of the top cars making up Frankfurt’s stellar line-up. But are any of them good enough to make it into our Top 10 cars hitting the showroom floor?

Join us as we run through ten cars you should take note of at the 2009 International Motor Show.

(Click to reveal...)

Adapted from Orange

While it doesn’t look like the Opel Insignia OPC will be coming our way here in South Africa, our European counterparts certainly have something to look forward to.

Packing a turbocharged 236 kW 2,8-litre V6, sophisticated suspension and four-wheel drive, the technical specification for Vauxhall’s Insignia VXR reads like something you might see in an Audi brochure.

But priced from GB£30 995 it’s slightly cheaper than the car it seeks to rival – the £34 260 Audi S4. Sitting at the top of the excellent new Insignia range, can the VXR model prove that Vauxhall can also challenge premium car makers with a performance version too?

The Insignia VXR stands out from the rest of the line-up – but it’s not garish in the way that previous models have been. At the front is a deep bumper with twin mesh grilles while a spoiler is added at the rear, along with a new bumper featuring dual matt chrome exhausts. The overall result is sporty but surprisingly subtle.

While the visual upgrades are subdued, the mechanical changes are anything but. As well as four-wheel drive, the hot Insignia gets a front suspension system, which like the RevoKnuckle system fitted to the Ford Focus RS, limits torque steer and boosts grip by maintaining negative camber during cornering.

There are also specially developed Brembo brakes and standard 19-inch wheels (20-inchers are an optional). But the changes don’t end there. The firm’s three-stage Flexride system is tweaked, giving drivers the choice of Normal or Sport settings, together with a hardcore VXR mode. The latter delivers more direct steering, sharper throttle response and stiffer dampers. And as a neat final touch it turns the illumination of the dash dials a menacing red.

Do these changes work? Undoubtedly. Finally this is a VXR-badged Vauxhall that can cope with the enormous power its engine produces. And that’s just as well given that the big turbocharged V6 kicks out 236 kW and 435 N.m of torque. From a standstill it rockets the Insignia to 100 km/h in just 5.8 seconds, but find a tight corner and that sophisticated chassis means you can accelerate out with confidence, all four wheels gripping hard and launching the car at the horizon.

Of course, that engine sounds fabulous too, with a bassy V6 note overlaid with some exciting turbo rush – although the exhaust can generate an intrusive boom on long journeys.
The steering is accurate and well-weighted, and what’s more, the ride is very well-judged, being firm but still big-car comfortable. Strong brakes complete the package and the result is a true dual-purpose sports saloon, capable of putting a smile on your face on a B-road but settling to a comfortable cruise on the motorway.

There’s no doubt though, that the Insignia VXR will be pricey to run. With combined fuel economy of 11.4l/100km and CO2 emissions of 268g/km (274g/km for the Sport Tourer), owners will need deep pockets. But it’s no more expensive to run than an Audi S4 – and it does a very, very good impression of that car with a driving experience that’s fast, fun but secure in all weather types.

Adapted from AutoExpress

After months of previews, teasers and small official photos, the 2010 Opel (Vauxhall) Astra has finally been let out of the bag. The hatch has been revealed in high-res photos and for the first time we get a look at the upcoming car’s stylish new interior.

The new Astra is crucial for Opel as it will need to recover market share lost by the current model to Ford’s strong-selling Focus hatch as well as fend off the Fiesta compact. With Europe’s love for hatches and the increasingly tight fuel and emissions standards – not to mention the taxes that go with them – the hatch will be key for Opel’s sales.

The car will make its official world debut at this September’s Frankfurt Motor Show, before arriving in European showrooms by the end of the year. This is the sixth generation of the Astra, which comes almost 30 years after the launch of the original, and its styling was led by Mark Adams, the British designer responsible for Opel’s award-winning Insignia. Also, like the Insignia, the new Astra has spent over 600 hours in the wind tunnel, benefiting performance, economy and overall refinement.

Echoing the flowing forms of its bodywork, the new Astra’s interior marks a major shift towards premium design and quality in the compact sector. The Astra’s interior employs the recurring wing and blade motifs that were first introduced in the Insignia and also includes a wraparound instrument panel, which embraces both front seat occupants.

Ambient lighting enhances the quality feel of the cabin, with lighting points framing the gearbox surround, and providing illumination from above the center console and within the door handle recesses, depending on trim level.

Beneath the car’s pretty sheet metal is a 4.4 metre-length body and an updated GM Delta platform with a 71 millimetre-longer wheelbase. Tracks are wider in the both the front and the rear, with the later featuring a new axle design. This not only improves stability and agility but improves ride and comfort as well. Enhancing ride quality further is the addition of Opel’s FlexRide adjustable damper settings, which allows drivers to select between standard, sport and tour suspension modes. Another special feature is adaptive bi-xenon headlights.

The highlight of the new Astra’s powertrain line-up is the introduction of an all-new, 103 kW turbocharged 1,4-litre petrol unit, which builds on Opel’s commitment to engine downsizing and reduced emissions and fuel consumption. This engine joins three further petrol engines, which range from 74 kW to 132 kW, and four diesel engines ranging from 70 kW to 118 kW. All engines are Euro 5 compliant.

Adapted from MotorAuthority