I read today that this car will be sold as Buick in China, so we might get it too.
In Europe, Astra is available with the following engines: 1.4L rated at 100 hp, 120 hp and 140 hp (last two turbo) and 1.6L turbo rated at 180 hp. There is also 2.0L diesel rated at 160 hp and 51 mpg.
Base price is 19,900 euros ($29,000).

 

I'm not sure a "hot hatch" fits with Buick's "theme" in the US. I think this would be better introduced here as a Chevy.

Nice looking little car, though.

 

it'd ne nice if it were introduced here as an opel astra.
just sayin'

 

Since they're building them in Germany, they need to charge a pretty high price in order to make money (due to strong euro vs weak dollar). So a compact with a Chevy name doesn't really go with a bigger price. Plus, I don't think Chevy wants more competition for the upcoming Chevy Cruze SS.

 

I was so happy when they released the Astra as a Saturn. Oh well. It didn't last.

 

For $13,000...Sure, why not. For $29,000...hell no.

 

I think Opel is the main reason why Saturn failed.

Saturn was always cheapest GM division and then all of the sudden they went above Chevy and Pontiac. One day cheapest Saturn was $12,000 Ion and the next day it was $17,000 Astra.

If they tried selling Opels as Pontiacs or even Buicks or Oldsmobiles, I think they would've had much more success.

 

Opel in England has a weird name Vauxhall..in Canada they sell under Saturn Astra..so many names

 

Saturn Astra was sold in both the USA and Canada before Saturn went out of the business. GM does not sell Astras in the USA or Canada anymore, but they do sell Chevy Cruze which is based on Astra.

Vauxhall is not actually Opel. Vauxhall is a British company which is owned by GM and majority of their cars are Opels, but they also sell other cars.

Like this Holden HSV GTS which is sold as Vauxhall VXR8.

 

holy kambucha, batman.... that is awesome.

 

It looks like if you shaved two doors from the Holden HSV GTS you could make a decent Buick Riviera.

 

Possibly. I think Americans are finally grasping the concept of high content smaller cars and not just weighing their automotive purchases by the pound. I think this would make a better Pontiac, but of course, their ain't no Pontiac no more -- a shame as I think they were finally getting a their image and product line to gel when they got axed.

Hopefully Buick would know how to market and sell such a car though, especially at the dealer level, and that I'm not so confident about.

 

Wasn't the HSV/VXR8 also the basis for the Pontiac G8 GXP? That was a rather nice car.

 

They sell the same car here, called the ....................... 2012 Ford Focus

 

Opel just introduced Astra OPC (Opel Performance Center). It's powered by a 2.0L turbo engine rated at 277 hp. Base MSRP: 28,000 euros ($39,000).

 

I don’t know if a luxury hot hatch would sell very well here. $40K seems a little steep. That’s more than the Gulf R, STI, and EVO.. If they got the price a little closer to the Mazdaspeed, WRX, GTI, and ST I bet they’d sell a lot better. But really isn’t that what the Cruze SS is for?

 

If they sell it here it will be much cheaper.
Focus ST and Golf GTI start at ~29,000 euros ($40,000) in Europe, but they both under $25,000 in the USA.

And they're really not luxury, I mean, it's Opel. Cars in Europe have much better interior quality than in the USA, but companies like Opel (and Ford and VW) are not luxury cars in Europe.

 

Oh I just figured it would be "luxury" being sold under the Buick brand. But if the price is right, that would be the first Buick I'd ever consider buying.

 

I don't think Buick and "compact hatchback" would work. A Chevy, yes. Buick? No. No matter how upscale they try to make it - at least for the US market. BTW, that red Astra OPC looks good.

 

the price CAN'T go down to ST, GTI level. this car is way more powerful than the cars in that segment.
it's not a deal to be had, but the price isn't outrageous neither.