Istanbul. Opel is back into the compact sedan market. And it backed up its new entry, the Astra Sedan, at its world premiere at the Istanbul motor show yesterday with two company firsts: General Motors has never before premiered a new car in Turkey. And it never before drove it on stage in reverse. Friedhelm Engler, chief designer compact cars at General Motors Design Europe, said climbing out of the back seat of the Astra: "We are back in the market of compact sedans with the new Astra. And its back is what it's all about. It gives ample space for the luggage of a family of five and shows the versatility of the Astra architecture." Standing back to back to the new car, Engler also explained: "Using the longer wheelbase Astra Caravan as base, the new Astra Sedan also has lots of legroom in the back, as I just experienced."
The Astra sedan will be produced in Gliwice, Poland, an ideal location to serve the Central and Eastern European markets for which the car has been primarily developed. The new model features a range of two gasoline and two diesel engines with output between 90 and 140 hp, and will go on sale in autumn 2007.
Notchback sedans are highly sought after in these strong, thriving markets. 67 percent of Turkish customers who purchase a compact class car, for example, choose a notchback model. In Russia, this figure is 65 percent and in Poland and South-East Europe the total is around 15 percent.
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