GM is lacking in the small car department and is facing tough competition from Toyota but the Astra’s main rivals will be the Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus. GM also lacks a quality mid-sized vehicle and Opel’s Vectra would have been ideal but there’s less pressure in this segment, which might be one of the reasons why GM doesn’t import the Vectra. Instead, GM will sell the Saturn Aura which is based on the same platform as the European Vectra.
The cars will be built at Opel’s plant in Antwerp, Belgium, and GM expects to sell roughly 30 – 40,000 units annually. We’re sure GM would love to import more vehicles, but plans to import the Commodore from Australia and the Astra from Europe will no doubt be at the bane of auto unions in the US.