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.

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?