As many different vehicles as General Motors makes for its own domestic market, it produces many others overseas that never make it home to the United States. Imagine our surprise, then, when a reader sent us photos of the latest Opel Astra on American roads.
The Astra, for those unfamiliar, is sold in Europe as an Opel, in the UK as a Vauxhall, in Australia as a Holden, and in China as a Buick. Previous iterations have even been sold in some markets as a Chevy, and in the United States as a Saturn. But that was two generations ago.
The closest we get these days is with the Chevy Cruze and Buick Verano – models which share their underpinnings with the Astra. But could the award-winning Opel‘s presence on US soil indicate that plans are afoot to bring it to the North American market?
Maybe. Or maybe GM is just putting its European hatchback through the same battery of tests as it does with its North American products. Hard to say, really, but even though it’s been designed with other markets in mind, the Astra doesn’t look out of place on American tarmac – as long as you don’t scratch your head too hard at the combination of Opel badges and Michigan plates.
Thanks again for the shots, Brett!
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