2010 Opel Astra Official Photos, Estate And GTC Illustrations

The first official photos of the upcoming 2010 Opel Astra (also to be sold as the 2010 Vauxhall Astra) have leaked online ahead of its official debut at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

Little other information on the new Astra has been made available, although joining the photos are a pair of illustrations: one features the estate (wagon) version of the Astra, and the other shows a highly-conceptualised illustration of the three-door 2010 Opel Astra GTC.

The 2010 Opel Astra shares more than a few styling features with its larger Insignia sibling – Opel’s and Vauxhall’s replacement for the Vectra – such as the reversed character line along the bottom of the doors and similarly styled headlights.

Riding on GM’s front-wheel-drive Delta platform, the all-new Astra shares its roots with the upcoming Holden Cruze and GM’s future Chevy Volt hybrid.

The 2010 Opel Astra will offer a range of petrol and diesel engines, with perhaps the stand-out unit in the regular range being GM’s 1.4 litre turbo-charged petrol engine, developing around 100kW (130hp) and torque figures of around 244Nm (180lb-ft).

The regular five-door hatch is expected to go on sale across Europe later this year, while the GTC and Estate versions will follow in 2010.

The 2010 Opel Astra GTC (or 2010 Vauxhall Astra VXR) is rumoured to see a 1.8 litre turbo engine developing around 180kW – 8kW short of the 2010 Golf GTI – with a 0-100km/h sprint knocked over in just under 6 seconds.

We’re not expecting to see the Astra in Australia, as the upcoming Holden Cruze will fill the same niche in Holden’s line-up.  We're looking forward to the Cruze, but boy, we'd really love to see the new Astra.