2009 Astra = 2008 Astra?

[megeebee]

Originally Posted by dindak

Why is this car not made in Spring Hill? GM must be spending a fortune on shipping and the Euro / dollar exchange must be killing them. GM must be doing all they can to cut costs.

.

1) Spring Hill is being renovated to build the Chevrolet Traverse, going on sale this fall.


2) Astra sales are microscopic, so far anyway. Through the end of April only 2386 had found buyers (since going on sale in January). There were some 8000 in nationwide inventory. At that rate, GM won't have to import any more for quite a while.

[Sparta]

Lame, GM deserves to sell as few as possible because of this.

[megeebee]

.....and by the way, did anyone seriously expect any changes???

[Strapping.Young.Lad]

i still havent seen an Astra at a dealer or on the road.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by FordRules

i still havent seen an Astra at a dealer or on the road.

I've seen one.
That's it.
*sighh*

[vsd]

Originally Posted by megeebee

.....and by the way, did anyone seriously expect any changes???

I was expecting at the very least for them to add an aux jack to the stereo. Is that so much to ask?

[Minnesota Nice]

Pathetic...why would GM honestly expect people to dump $20 grand on a top of the line Astra when they have no desire to add an aux jack, navigation, or for God's sake, a sunroof on the three door.

This just frustrates me. Does GM think that they can push second rate machinery just beacsue it's a "stopgap."

Enough ****** stopgaps. Give us the products we deserve and stop giving us the stiff .

What a shame, too...a beautiful, beautiful car.

[Exploder]

Is there absolute confirmation for this? If it's true, damn. The word 'stopgap' must really exit GM's vocabulary...

[TKR]

Originally Posted by PA Dweller

Wow thats lame.

Ok, so GM have managed to get the Astra to the US in a relatively short time frame (in automotive terms). Please bear in mind this vehicle was never designed with the NA market in mind in the first place so to even get it past cetification in the first place (as opposed to the new Corsa) was amazing.

Opel already build this vehicle with a large number of engine choices so to add the 'Cobalt' engine would add additional complexity at best. The 2.2 that Opel fit already, most likely does not meet NA standards (for whatever reason) and neither will their diesel engines. If you had mentioned a small GM vehicle with a diesel engine 3 years ago most NA consumers would have laughed and said why bother.

The 3 door does not come with a sunroof in any market and with the new model so close there would be no justification to spend lots of $$$ on an outgoing model.

I believe the 'new' Astra will be on the EU market in 2009 so there is only 1 more year to wait. Stop gap? Absolutely, but at least the next model will be designed with the NA market in mind. I am sure GM has NA engineers on the ground in Europe assisting with design to make it good for NA so it will be an interesting wait.

[Ambalanche]

And this surprises you because?.......

[camaro_freak]

Originally Posted by megeebee

.....and by the way, did anyone seriously expect any changes???

I certainly saw this coming a while ago. Like other have stated, this is purely stop gap until the next generation model comes out.

Unlike GM, Ford actually did something with the N.A. Focus (well they tried anyway... at least the Sync technology is cool) to hold over until the Euro version can be brought over here.

GM proves once again they still don't get it yet. They still have a lot of work to do with small cars. I hope they pull their heads out of their collective a$$es and reconsider.

[camaro_freak]

Originally Posted by TKR

Ok, so GM have managed to get the Astra to the US in a relatively short time frame (in automotive terms). Please bear in mind this vehicle was never designed with the NA market in mind in the first place so to even get it past cetification in the first place (as opposed to the new Corsa) was amazing.

what good is bringing it over quickly, if it is de-contented? If anything it is going to hurt the model and hurt the brand.

Who will stick around long enough to see the second generation model when it FINALLY arrives?

[dindak]

Originally Posted by megeebee

1) Spring Hill is being renovated to build the Chevrolet Traverse, going on sale this fall.


2) Astra sales are microscopic, so far anyway. Through the end of April only 2386 had found buyers (since going on sale in January). There were some 8000 in nationwide inventory. At that rate, GM won't have to import any more for quite a while.

1) It wasn't 2 years ago when this car was hatched
2) No advertising = no sales.

[Hurricane]

Originally Posted by FenwickHockey65

I've seen one.
That's it.
*sighh*

Me too - I've only seen one on the road so far.

[69Firebird400]

That's too bad - the Astra is a nice little car that would be much more appealing to me with some better powertrain options and some more comfort stuff that's available in the Euro-spec ones.