For those of us living on this side of the Atlantic, we’ve only had a few months with the Saturn Astra. But for those who live in Europe, the Astra nameplate has been around for nearly 17 years. And after those 17 years of production, Opel has reached a major milestone as it has produced its 10 millionth Astra.
The first Opel Astra rolled of the assembly line in Bochum, Germany in 1991, but the hatchback is now produced in countries all across the world — including Belgium, the UK, Poland, Russia, the Ukraine and Brazil. General Motors introduced the Astra to the U.S. for the 2008 model year.
Lucky number 10,000,000 was a Silver Lightning 5-door 1.7 CDTI, equipped with a few special features to commemorate the milestone.
The UK is the Astra’s largest market — with 119,082 buyers opting for the hatchback last year — followed by Germany with 74,226 sales in 2007 and Italy with 43,128. The most popular model in Europe is the 1.6 ECOTEC, according to CarScoop.
05/14, 6:47 PM
posted by:
LaCaLover
The First Vauxhall Astra was introduced in 1979, its Opel twin still being called the Kadett. They were both called Astra from 1991.
05/14, 6:50 PM
posted by:
howsmydriving
And what a wonderful way for GM to debut Astra in the U.S., with a pathetic 138 hp engine.
05/14, 6:58 PM
posted by:
C6Racer
Oh well.
05/14, 7:09 PM
posted by:
autonut
Actually 138 hp from 1.8l engine isn’t bad. I recall BMW having engines with same characteristics and it was before couple of SAE recalibrations. The most potent 1.8L engine is from Honda now in US and it is 140 HP. Both engines have about the same torque of 128. Both cars are equally frugal. This is not a race car (in US).
05/14, 7:10 PM
posted by:
olds307
2: It’s an economy car, made for fuel economy, not a musclecar, if you want HP you have plenty of other choices.
05/14, 7:11 PM
posted by:
olds307
Also, for such a small and lightweight car, 138 HP is is plenty! The 5 liter V8s from all the manufacturers, in MUCH heavier cars were 140 HP, and they even had plenty of power.
05/14, 8:31 PM
posted by:
400horseSS
Shouldn’t the Europeans be striking like the rest of us.
05/14, 10:28 PM
posted by:
foster1
I take it we are only taking in concideration of 1.8L that are not turbo right?? Not bad but really not us news. And I don’t live in europe.
05/14, 11:38 PM
posted by:
tweak589
Great, now get back in DTM Opel…. Audi vs Mercedes is boring.
05/15, 12:21 AM
posted by:
LJ
I like the Astra we sat in(at autoshow).. xr? 3 door. 5 door is even tolerable. MSRP isn’t…. but, there was a 1000 dollar cash back sale recently…making he automatic about 18,800.
If gas is 5 a gallon in 2009-2010…. No.. clean diesel car for 20K for us.
If gas is 3 per gallon, somehow, in 1-2 years, we will check out the Astra as a possible new car.
05/15, 7:39 AM
posted by:
JohnnyBlazE
I drive the Astra nearly daily and it’s a good car overall, but something is lacking. The Focus we have has that something, but I drive the Astra more still… just because its a newer car I guess which has a bigger engine :p
Still rather drive my 18 year old E30 BMW… RWD FTW
05/15, 10:08 AM
posted by:
xyunya
Europeans aren’t striking because they aren’t really working either. VW has 28 hours work week and the rest of Europe 35. Striking will take more time.