Frankfurt 2009: Opel Astra makes its debut under the lights
by Jeremy Korzeniewski on Sep 17th 2009 at 11:41AM 
2010 Opel Astra - Click above for high-res image gallery
By now, you've likely already seen official shots of the 2010 Opel Astra, both inside and out. Of course, catching a glimpse of a new shape under the harsh lighting of an auto show often brings a different point of view than the automaker's own glitzy press shots.
In the case of the latest Astra, though, the new car looks nearly as fetching caught with the lenses of our own DSLRs as it did in GM's official photography. We especially like the new Astra's interior furnishings, which are a major step up from the current model's rather boring and somber duds.
While the 2010 Astra won't be coming Stateside as a Saturn like the previous model, GM has promised to bring the latest Detla-based car to American shores (probably in sedan form) wearing the trademark Buick badge and chrome waterfall grille, and none of those plans are expected to change now that The General has offloaded a majority stake in Opel to Magna. Check out our high-res shots below of the 2010 Astra live from Frankfurt.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
info2x 11:47AM (9/17/2009)
Much better looking that the one it replaces
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info2x 11:47AM (9/17/2009)
that = than
Victor 11:47AM (9/17/2009)
So, which GM execs were dumb enough to think that it is more viable to keep a re-badge job like GMC over Opel/Vauxhall?
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AC 11:58AM (9/17/2009)
let them bankrupt a few more times and perhaps they will learn?
Danimal 11:59AM (9/17/2009)
Technically GM is keeping 35% of Opel, so they haven't completely sold it.
But I do see your point.
Epsilon-Not 12:03PM (9/17/2009)
The ones who realized that GMC was making GM money, and Opel/Vauxhall required a massive bailout from the German government (who put a sale as a condition) to continue operation?
Taglane 12:04PM (9/17/2009)
But of course you didn't RTFA where it said they were bringing over the Astra Sedan.... and I'm so tired of pleading the GMC case. They rake in loads of cash- that's why they were kept.
Pokey 5:35PM (9/17/2009)
I am right there with you Taglane. It does not do any good to argue with these people, they would rather go on ignoring the facts, and only see what they want to see. It's like trying to explain brain surgery to my 8 year old daughter.
Zakspeed 11:57AM (9/17/2009)
Rather confusing center console.
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davido 12:30PM (9/17/2009)
And of course we won't get the five-door with a diesel. Between turbo-diesels, manual transmissions, the Autobahn, faster internet speeds, good cheap wine, great beer, socialized medicine and no service contracts for cell phones, Western Europe is looking pretty good.
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Aprime 12:46PM (9/17/2009)
You just had to mention socialized medicine, didn't you?
Yeah, let's all adopt socialized healthcare and end the push for innovation in medicine once and for all.
You people haven't learned anything from the Cold War, nothing.
-disgruntled Canadian.
sk 1:07PM (9/17/2009)
But you know not all countries in Western Europe have socialized health care.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_health_care
Aprime 1:48PM (9/17/2009)
Oh lawd, I'm being downvoted by lefties who don't understand what's wrong with their health care system (applies to both Americans and people abroad and feel government is the answer to their problems.
Oh, need I remind you how do you control costs in a public system? You ration the offer. Why do you think you had to wait decades for *your* Trabant in the olden days of the USSR? Because they rationed the offer to keep costs down and along with that you had no technology under the hood.
Yes you are spending too much, but there's a better solution - look at how you threat your health insurance - what does it essentially bring you? Virtually free healthcare - supply and demand, you'll abuse if it's free - abuse means getting stuff you don't *need*, like getting more care than you really need - the supply drops, driving costs up, therefore dropping availability. Having a single payer system or mandating health insurance isn't going to fix this, and you're likely going to regret it in the long run.
Aprime 1:53PM (9/17/2009)
And I don't get the cheap wine bit either - not only is it subsidized, but the part of it is true because there's too much offer for the demand - part of it isn't because of European inflation.
The manual transmission deal is consumer-driven.
Diesels are both a government issue and a consumer-driven thing.
No service contracts are available here too, the legislation doesn't favor or disfavor the stuff, as opposed to Europe, making it a carrier/maker decision... And most people are fine with it apparently.
Don't get faster Internet speeds, I can get T3-speed cable.
Ken Stamper 2:43PM (9/17/2009)
Sorry Aprime, you're being downvoted by someone who has lived the Costa Rica, Spain, and New Zealand. I come about my enthusiasm for socialized medicine honestly. And I didn't talk to a single person, rich or poor, who would trade what they had for the US's "system".
And I didn't see a lot of Trabants (admittedly, I did see one being driven ironically abound Seville covered in grafitti) in any of those countries- I saw lots of small, modern, turbodiesel hatchbacks with manual transmissions. You're damn right that is consumer driven. And that's why Europe is great!
Swede 9:29AM (9/18/2009)
T3 is just 44 Mbit/s. You need 100/100.
Pokey 12:32PM (9/17/2009)
Wow, a story that's related to GM that has been up for almost an hour, and no ignorant replies from Brian yet?
There must be a Klan rally in his hometown today.
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Vivek Beniwal 12:34PM (9/17/2009)
Looks like a Toyota Corolla from the front - not very German. Thumbs down for me...
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Ligor 12:49PM (9/17/2009)
check your eyes
or stop eating that toyota fluf casue this looks about 100x better than the corolla & that front has no resemblance to the corolla
Vivek Beniwal 1:51PM (9/17/2009)
You can rant all you want - but still looks like a Jap car from the front... the Corolla again comes to mind :-)
And to be clear - I have never owned a Toyota - probably never will, so I don't know what the hell you are talking about.