Photo: Kolesa.ru
The all-new Opel Astra is currently undergoing testing in Europe and could join the compact car segment by the end of 2021. A rival for the VW Golf, it will be underpinned by French technology for the first time.
American readers probably have no idea what an Astra is, but back when GM owned Opel, the Astra was the European model on which the Buick Verano was based. This means it was also crucial to the Chinese market, where Buick makes a good chunk of its profits.
The outgoing Astra came out in 2015 and was fairly good at everything except the fun stuff. Despite the rumors, Opel never made a hot hatch out of it, and the largest engine available was a 1.6-liter. A facelift debuted for 2019, and by that time, the German brand was beginning to be integrated into the Groupe PSA family that also includes Peugeot and Citroën.
This should have meant that at least some of the engines would be replaced with French ones, but that didn't happen as Opel introduced new engines of its own developed before the PSA takeover.
Now, however, we're witnessing a full transition to Peugeot tech, as this upcoming 2022 Astra will be underpinned by PSA's EMP2 platform. And by "this," we mean the one you see in these renderings, which the Russian website Kolesa put together using references from recent spy shots.
The styling is dominated by a framed element that integrates the headlights and grille. It's something we've already seen with the all-new Opel Mokka, which used to be related to the Buick Encore and Chevy Trax, but is now a sister to French models like the Peugeot 2008.
The powertrains remain a mystery, but we expect them to range from a 1.2-liter with 100 horsepower to about 150 hp. There should even be an all-electric Astra-e model, featuring a range of up to 324 km (201 miles) per one charge of the relatively small 50 kWh battery.
And unlike the previous generation, this Astra might get a performance version. Peugeot is developing a 300-horsepower plug-in hybrid drive, and there's no reason for it not to be shared with the Germans.
The outgoing Astra came out in 2015 and was fairly good at everything except the fun stuff. Despite the rumors, Opel never made a hot hatch out of it, and the largest engine available was a 1.6-liter. A facelift debuted for 2019, and by that time, the German brand was beginning to be integrated into the Groupe PSA family that also includes Peugeot and Citroën.
This should have meant that at least some of the engines would be replaced with French ones, but that didn't happen as Opel introduced new engines of its own developed before the PSA takeover.
Now, however, we're witnessing a full transition to Peugeot tech, as this upcoming 2022 Astra will be underpinned by PSA's EMP2 platform. And by "this," we mean the one you see in these renderings, which the Russian website Kolesa put together using references from recent spy shots.
The styling is dominated by a framed element that integrates the headlights and grille. It's something we've already seen with the all-new Opel Mokka, which used to be related to the Buick Encore and Chevy Trax, but is now a sister to French models like the Peugeot 2008.
The powertrains remain a mystery, but we expect them to range from a 1.2-liter with 100 horsepower to about 150 hp. There should even be an all-electric Astra-e model, featuring a range of up to 324 km (201 miles) per one charge of the relatively small 50 kWh battery.
And unlike the previous generation, this Astra might get a performance version. Peugeot is developing a 300-horsepower plug-in hybrid drive, and there's no reason for it not to be shared with the Germans.
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