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The Citizen
10-07-2025
- Automotive
- The Citizen
Opel makes it official: New Astra in line for South Africa
Said to be an 'advanced stage' of studying, the Astra will most likely make its comeback sometime in 2026. All-new Astra L said to have been a constant topic of discussion for South Africa. Image: Opel In a surprise turnaround, Opel's parent company, Stellantis, has confirmed that it is poised to bring the Astra back to South Africa after initially ruling out its entry due to declining demand for C-segment hatchbacks. Unveiled three years ago as the internally named Astra L, the first generation not to made or produced by long-time former parent company General Motors since being founded by UK sister brand Vauxhall as a rebadged version of the Kadett D in 1979, rides on the same EMP2 platform as the Peugeot 308, but with differences in dimensions and inside. Not coming… The second model at the time, after the Mokka, to incorporate the Blitz's Bold and Pure styling language, the unexpected u-turn comes shortly after a response on X, following its global announcement about the chances of it returning to South Africa. ALSO READ: Comeback star: Long awaited all-new Opel Astra officially revealed 'We have received confirmation that the new Astra will not be made available in South Africa,' the response. … until now Speaking to The Citizen on the sidelines of the new Grandland's unveiling at Montecasino in Johannesburg on Wednesday (9 July), which also formed part of Stellantis' annual Media Connect event, Opel Middle East and Africa Head, Falk Zimpel, said that the investigation in bringing the Astra to market 'is in an advanced stage'. Interior adheres to the same detox principle as the Mokka and new Grandland. Image: Opel Admitting that the model's reintroduction to South Africa had been a topic of much discussion, Zimpel added that the arrival was expected to take place next year, although an exact date of reveal wasn't disclosed. What to expect? Assembled exclusively at Opel's home plant of Rüsselsheim in Germany, the Astra L also became the first to feature a plug-in hybrid powertrain, although this would be an unlikely option for the local market. Similar to arch-rival Volkswagen's reinstated Golf 8.5, the local market Astra is likely to only become available with the long-serving 1.2-litre three-cylinder PureTech turbocharged petrol engine, also used in the Corsa. Astra L is the first in the nameplate's now 46-year history not to have been produced by General Motors. Image: Opel In Europe, the blown three-pot comes in two states of tune: 81kW/205Nm and 96kW/230Nm, with the standard transmission being a six-speed manual and, in the case of the latter, an optional eight-speed automatic. Neither is expected to receive consideration: the 1.6-litre plug-in hybrid, which produces a combined 132 kW, nor the performance all-wheel-drive GSe, which adds a second electric motor for a total output of 165 kW. Additional no-nos are the 1.5-litre Blue CDTI turbodiesel, the 1.2-litre mild-hybrid or the Astra Electric. Golf vs Astra resumes As it stands, the combination of the more powerful PureTech and eight-speed automatic would present the clearest option in rivalling the Golf, which itself makes use of the older 1.4 TSI engine rather than the newer 1.5 TSI Evo, paired to an eight-speed Tiptronic 'box. For the moment, no further details are known; however, some may emerge either before year-end or in the early part of 2026. NOW READ: It is a no: New Opel Astra won't be coming to South Africa
Telegraph
02-05-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
UK's rarest cars: 1981 Vauxhall Astra Mk1 EXP, one of a handful left
Some once-popular cars gradually vanish from our roads as if by stealth, and Adrian Day's 1982 Vauxhall Astra is one of the few remaining Mk1 models. It is also the exclusive EXP limited edition version – a car that at first glance seemed so luxurious it even had a sports steering wheel as standard. The Astra was a Vauxhall of two 'firsts' – the Luton-based firm's debut front-wheel drive product and its first model not to be sold outside the UK. By 1978 the parent company General Motors had decided that future Vauxhalls would be modified versions of Opel designs, meaning that the Astra was essentially a Kadett D (the Kadett C being the Vauxhall Chevette) designed in Germany, but with the British firm's griffin badge on the nose. Opel began work on the latest Kadett in 1976, using the original Volkswagen Golf as a benchmark for its interior accommodation. Vauxhall intended to launch the Astra in August 1979 but encountered problems from unions which feared the company planned to cease car manufacture in the UK, in favour of importing re-branded Opels from Germany. In fact, the first Astras were imported from Germany, but Vauxhall issued assurances that it would commence manufacture at Ellesmere Port on the Mersey by 1982. Meanwhile, negotiations between the company and the unions meant the launch took place at the Scottish Motor Show in November 1979. To further complicate matters, Opel planned to sell its almost identical Kadett D stablemate in the UK. According to one advertisement, the Astra was the car 'the roads have been waiting for', although this newspaper referred to it as a 'Local Opel'. What Car? magazine voted the Astra its 1980 Car of the Year, ahead of the VW Golf Mk1, the Citroën GSA and the Volvo 345. Motor thought it 'in some respects even better than the Opel Kadett from which it is derived' and Car found the Astra 'soundly designed' and 'developed to a high pitch'. By 1981 production transferred to Ellesmere Port and the Astra became the UK's ninth best-selling car. That year General Motors merged Vauxhall and Opel dealerships and in 1982 Vauxhall introduced the EXP special edition – the Astra that 'sets you apart'. This was such an exclusive car that Vauxhall urged buyers to 'Call your dealer now. He may have one left.' The EXP was available in three- or five-door guise, with a choice of 1.3- or 1.6-litre engines. Vauxhall based it on the lowly-specified L version, but installed equipment that 'identifies your own high values'. In other words, the owner could bask in the glory of its Hazelnut Metallic or Black paintwork with an Antique Gold side stripe. This gold theme continued with the wheels, while your new EXP even came with a 'high quality push button radio', a glass sunroof, front foglights, a tinted windscreen and Chevron Tweed upholstery. Not to mention other 'thoughtful detail features'; a remote-control driver's door mirror, a cigar lighter and a rear wiper and washer. At £5,162.73, Vauxhall priced the EXP 1.3-litre five-door to compete with the Ford Escort Mk3 1.3 GL at £5,137 or the Talbot Horizon 1.5 GL for £4,981. If you did not require a hatchback, your nearest British Leyland dealer would probably discount the Austin Allegro 1.5 HLS's £5,095 list price as production would end that year. But no rival could hope to offer the sheer style that was the Astra with an Antique Gold stripe. EXP sales amounted to approximately 2,800 and survivors are now believed to be in single figures – even as low as three. (The difficulty in obtaining the precise number of survivors is because many could have been registered without the EXP nomenclature.) As for the standard Astra, when the Mk2 replaced it in October 1984 after 196,347 units, the Mk1 was the country's seventh best-selling car. However, the motoring historian Keith Adams observes in 'Rust was a killer, as were 'toffee' camshafts [in the overhead cam models], gearboxes and driveshafts. By the late 1990s, numbers were thinning alarmingly.' Day's Astra was registered in August 1982 in Devon and is certainly an eye-catching vehicle, although the EXP exterior trim appears strangely dated for 1982, with a gold theme redolent of mid-1970s executive aspirations. The result is one of the few Astra Mk1 five-doors that could be fairly described as 'flamboyant'. Or, as Vauxhall preferred to describe the EXP, 'so much luxury and distinction'.
