The New Astra Shapes Up

Vauxhall has recently launched a new Corsa, with the new Viva city car set to debut next year, Vauxhall is gearing up for a new better looking, lighter and British-built Astra to be launched at the end of 2015. The exclusive images show how the Ford Focus and VW Golf rival will look. A larger grille, flowing into slimmer headlights, along with a defined crease along the shoulder line will mark out the five-door. Like the current GTC, expect the three-door’s roofline and bodywork to be sportier.

According to Tim Tozer, Vauxhall’s chairman and managing director, there are several areas in which the current car can be improved: “The Astra today is a bit heavy. Can it overcome the 200kg excess? Nearly. But for the new model being lighter is key, plus interior touch and feel and power-train investment.”

Achieving a level of interior quality to match the VW Golf and Peugeot 308 will be tough, especially considering Tozer is wary of charging customers too much. He said that Vauxhall is “part of the middle. We will not be cheap, we will not be expensive”.

The new Astra will be powered by 114bhp 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo engine which will rival the 1.0 EcoBoost Ford Focus, while retuned versions of the 1.6-litre petrol and 1.6-litre whisper diesel engines are expected, too. Vauxhall’s attention is also on the new Ford Focus RS which is nearing completion. A tweaked version of the current model’s 276bhp 2.0-litre turbo could feature with an output above 300bhp.