ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — General Motors has started test-assembling the new Opel Astra hatchback at its St. Petersburg facility, with series production to begin there soon.
Public Relations Director Sergey Lepnuhov said the company is completing the installation of equipment and carrying out tests of the assembly technology. Future assembly numbers will depend on market conditions, he said.
The price of the new model has not yet been revealed but is expected to be at or below $19,000. That's slightly higher than the cost of the previous-generation Astra in Russia, which was built at the Avtotor plant in Kaliningrad.
The current capacity of the plant in St. Petersburg, which started production in November 2008, is 70,000 units per year. At present, GM produces three models there: the Chevrolet Captiva and Opel Antara SUVs and the Chevrolet Cruze.
Launching Opel Astra production at the plant appears to be a logical step for GM. Although Opel sales in Russia and Eastern Europe have declined significantly since the start of the global recession, demand for the Astra in Russia remains high.
Inside Line says: GM goes with a proven winner in the Russia market. — Evgeniy Vorotnikov, Correspondent
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cz75 says:
11:36 AM, 01/08/2010
The lack of power for the price was what was really out of whack. 140hp? Maybe for a base model.
btrdayz says:
08:37 AM, 01/08/2010
Looks like an Infiniti EX-35, which is nice.
vvk says:
08:17 AM, 01/08/2010
Saturn Astra was a case of too little, too late. They should have brought it here a year earlier. It would have sold like hot cakes during $4/gal gasoline. They really missed the boat on the timing.
Another thing they should have done is offer several other engines on top of the 1.8l. I understand that that's the only engine available with an automatic transmission. Fine. However, during $4/gal gasoline it would have been better to offer other engines, especially the excellent turbodiesels, even if they are manual only. Being a European economy car, I think there would be fairly strong demand for manual transmission Astra.
jepontiac says:
08:12 AM, 01/08/2010
I hope this comes to the USA as a Buick Excelle like it is going to be China.
2009bbplb says:
07:22 AM, 01/08/2010
The Astra has always been a very nice looking car.. to bad the car flopped in the US. I think they pricing was way out of whack as a Saturn