(music - "American Idle" by RKVC) The Vauxhall Astra has become one of Britain’s
most common cars – and something of a British point of pride, being produced in the Ellesmere
Port factory in Cheshire. But rather than being more British than bubble
and squeak, the first Astra marked the start of a German dominance in the Vauxhall/Opel
partnership, and every one of the 8 revisions would be designed outside the UK. But the car, and the Astra name would become
a British export success story. So, how has the Astra faired since it launched
in 1979, and what’s next? This is the Vauxhall/Opel/Saturn/Holden/Chevrolet
Astra Story! (music) Opel, General Motor’s German subsidiary
had been producing cars called the Kadett since before the war. After the war, the Soviets claimed what was
left of the tooling from the bombed out factory, and had a factory built in Russia,
producing it as the Moskvitch 400 and 420. Opel was reborn as a purely West Germany company,
giving owners GM complete control, and a new Kadett appeared in 1962. It was updated in 1965 and 1973 and was considered
so good it would be used as the basis for GM’s new world car T platform, a reaction
to the 1973 oil crisis. The T platform would be used all around the
world, as the Australian Holden Gemini, the American Chevrolet Chevette, and the British
Vauxhall Chevette. Opel was charged with a new version of the
T platform, this time focused on a new competitor. In 1974 Volkswagen launched the front wheel
drive Golf, and soon General Motors engineering teams in the USA and West Germany were rushing
to emulate a superior car. The year the Golf launched, Opel laid out
the mechanicals of the new Kadett, and soon they were testing it on the open road. To show just how much their focus was on their
rivals, the chassis would be disguised by using Fiat 127 and Volkswagen Golf bodies,
with interesting bonnet changes to make the Opel engine fit! By 1976 the dimensions of the new car were
set – just slightly bigger than the Golf to give it better interior and boot space. Entry-level engines would come from the existing
Kadett, but the larger engines and manual gearbox would be all-new, coming from a development
programme in GM’s Brazilian operation. The goal was to make this a good all-round
engine that could be used for many cars, in GM vehicles all around the world. Suspension would be a modern setup with a
similar rear setup to Volkswagen’s new Polo. There would be modern disc brakes up front,
with drums on the back. Opel’s boxy design hid improved crash structures
over the older car, and despite its sharp edges it had a lower drag factor, although
nothing like the slippery shapes that would emerge in the 1980s. It was shorter than the older car, but with
front wheel drive and a longer wheelbase, it was bigger on the inside. Over in the UK, Vauxhall saw this as the replacement
not just of the Chevette, but their aging Viva. Their design department got to work creating
a Vauxhall restyle with the by now trademark “droop snout” nose, as they’d done with
the Cavalier. With this replacing the booted Viva, and with
70s Brits loving saloons, a three-box version was designed along with an estate and even
a hot mid-engined hatch. Work on the saloon wouldn’t get far though,
as GM cancelled it early on due to costs – the expense of producing a brand-new front wheel
drive chassis was driving the new Kadett’s budget sky high. But GM felt this was money well spent – they
needed something to take on the front wheel drive threat of the Golf. When the Vauxhall design was completed, it
looked about what you’d expect - like the lovechild between the final Opel Kadett and
the 1975 Vauxhall Cavalier hatchback! This initial design would go through a process
of cost cutting, getting a similar look using off the shelf parts, such as Vauxhall Carlton
indicators, and Opel Kadett headlights mounted at an angle. The car’s interior was headed up by Opel,
but Vauxhall would help soften the design around the edges, especially on the higher
trim levels. In an age where designers were discovering
the importance of ergonomics, the dashboard mimicked the Golf by putting controls and
information up high to reduce driver distraction. Vauxhall were reticent to reuse the Chevette
name, but the Vauxhall Kadett didn’t sound very British. Much better therefore to plump for the Latin
word “Astra” meaning “Stars”! But as 1979 dawned and Vauxhall continued
to prepare their version of the Kadett, the axe fell on the last remnants of Vauxhall’s
design department and with it the Vauxhall changes. The new Astra would look identical to the
European Kadett. But there was sound logic to this. Why incur the extra expense of different versions
across the EEC when the other European car companies were proving it wasn’t necessary? But it was a sad day for Vauxhall, reducing
it to vehicle production and a marketing department. The new Astra would be produced in the UK,
but not for two years. This had trades unions spooked, thinking it
was a precursor to moving jobs abroad. They had good reason to be worried; GM were
clearly tired of the constant trade union action. Just months before the announcement Astra
production would be delayed, trades unions had caused a damaging 9-week strike, right
at the time GM needed as many cars as they could sell. With Britain in the Common Market, making
European imports suddenly much cheaper, you would think this would put GM in the great
bargaining position. All they needed to do was ramp up European
production and close British factories, putting their sick English patient out of its misery. But Vauxhall was British, and without British
production, would British sales falter, just as it was picking up after years of malaise? So, an agreement was found. Luton production was assured, and British
production of the Astra would start in two years’ time at Ellesmere Port, down the
road from Chester. Until then, the Vauxhall Astra would be made
on the continent. With an unsympathetic Conservative Government
now in power, unions would have to take GMs word it would happen. (music - "Mirror Mind" by Bobby Richards) With a fresh union deal in their hands, the
Vauxhall Astra was hurriedly launched, without any clue of price, at the Scottish Motor Show,
importantly getting the jump on Ford’s new mk3 Escort. Just one hatchback and estate model were on
offer, and the lack of publicity and eventual high price showed that GM wasn’t actually
that keen on selling them in Britain right away. Sales of the Kadett had taken off in Europe,
leaving few cars for British dealers, and GM was keen to keep Brits buying Chevettes
to keep British production ticking over until Astra production could start. A couple of high end Astras at high prices
would be enough to whet British appetites and give the car an exclusive quality, especially
as Europeans seemed to think this was a well put together car. British reviewers agreed, with What Car? naming it their Car of the Year for 1980. With Ford’s 3rd generation Escort launching
at the October 1980 Birmingham Motor Show, Vauxhall needed something to talk about. They launched new trim levels, and a new saloon
version that was technically a saloon, but it was a bit hard to spot. It had the visual look of a hatchback that
put off saloon customers, while having a more impractical rear opening! Predictably most people ignored it, both sides
of the English Channel. Despite the promise of a fuller range, the
cars on show were rebadged Kadett’s and supply problems would rob Vauxhall dealers
of stock to sell to customers. The Astra was cool, but you couldn’t buy
one yet. Instead of settling for a Chevette, customers
went down the road to test drive an Escort. If they could fix their supply problems Vauxhall
had the start of a compelling line-up, especially for fleet customers, and finally something
they could play off against Ford, especially when the Bedford Astravan arrived in 1982. With production issues finally resolved, what
Vauxhall needed was better marketing. They got it with a new boss - straight talking
Australian John Bagshaw. With a sales background and fresh from a senior
marketing position at Pontiac in the USA, one of his first jobs was replacing Vauxhall’s
marketing head. But he had another problem. Due to historical reasons, Opel sold cars
in the UK and the continent, as did Vauxhall. This worked well when Opel and Vauxhall produced
separate vehicles, but it now meant Opel dealers in the UK were selling the Kadett in competition
with Vauxhall dealers. GM had stopped Vauxhall’s European sales,
because, well, they didn’t have anything unique to offer, and like Jif would become
Cif, the UK Opel team was expecting the Vauxhall name to disappear. But to the surprise of many British Vauxhall
and Opel staff, John Bagshaw announced that both operations would be merged under the
new “Vauxhall-Opel” brand, which would eventually be shorted to just Vauxhall. The brand, established in the 1850s, would
live on. As the Astra was joined by the larger mk2
Cavalier, hewn from Astra mechanicals to save costs, British customers found that Vauxhall
was selling really rather good cars. UK production ramped up to supply demand. Automatic gearboxes and diesel engines appeared. Ford’s Sierra misstep only helped Vauxhall’s
cause, and soon more and more people were giving Vauxhall another look, and liking what
they saw. Sales of the Astra bloomed, spurred mainly
by the hatchback. The marketing men focused on the Astra’s
Germanic technical prowess years before Audi started proclaiming “Vorsprung Durch Technik”. The mechanicals were good, but they weren’t
exactly long-lasting. GM were after all selling a car for a price. A part only has to be good enough, not over-engineered,
and if it were, it would cost more. The Astra was reasonably priced, and those
reliable mechanical bits were cheap to maintain which further reduced the total cost of ownership,
music to fleet manager’s ears. For example, it could take a trained service
technician just half an hour to replace the clutch. GM’s “sell the right package at the right
price” model in the US had come to Europe. By 1982 those weird saloon versions had been
discontinued, and Opel had started working on the next generation Astra. But the mk1 Astra had more to come in the
form of the SR, aimed squarely at Volkswagen’s Golf GTI and Ford’s Escort XR3i. It got a 1.6L engine, plus a 5-speed manual
with a 5th gear that more than just for motorway cruising. The fuel injected GT/E arrived the following
year, but Vauxhall was still selling its cars on fuel economy rather than performance, and
most performance customers, at least in 1982, looked elsewhere. The mk2 update made only small mechanical
changes; the focus was on updating the body and the interior. GM’s eyes were still on the Volkswagen Golf,
and with an updated design expected, GM felt their car needed a radical change. It became more rounded, using lessons learned
from their recent Tech 1 concept. This new rounded, slippery design was the
latest trend in the auto industry, with the Audi 100, Ford Sierra and Volvo 700 series
appearing. OK, maybe not the last one! Computer aided design was used for the first
time, allowing the body to be stiffer, yet lighter, using less material that made it
cheaper. The aerodynamic shape not only made the car
faster while using less fuel, but reduced wind noise, and made it more stable in crosswinds. With extensive use of a wind tunnel, Opel
could design the airflow so the minimum amount of dirt and mud would be thrown back onto
the rear of the car. Inside there was a complete update, and GM
made sure there’d be more room. The dashboard took on an ergonomic layout
that hasn’t changed much since. Bigger doors made it easier to get in and
out, and the team took pains to remove every squeak and rattle from the body and interior. Overall, it was a more refined package, and
hopefully a Volkswagen Golf beater. The car remained easy to maintain thanks to
its Family 1 and Family 2 engines, retained from the old car, now used on the larger Cavalier. GM also designed the body to be more easily
repairable with innovative welding techniques that made panels easier to remove, and replacement
wings and rear sections were readily available. As for manufacturing, robots invaded the Ellesmere
Port factory to take some of those union jobs, something that was happening to car factories
across the globe and helped to speed up production and make cars less expensive. The new car launched in August 1984 and took
Vauxhall to the next level. With the smaller Nova, they had a full fleet
to rival Ford, and the new Astra and Cavalier cemented Vauxhall as the countries number
two car producer, with fleets buying them in large numbers. By the end of the 80s the Astra and Cavalier
seemed to be parked on the side of every road in Britain. The regular Astra had improved aerodynamics,
but the performance GTE model took it to the next level, with a drag of just 0.3. The large rear spoiler added more top speed,
and it even improved fuel efficiency, but its main job was improving rear stability. To add to the exclusivity, the GTE got a digital
dashboard. The 1.8L engine was quickly updated to a 2.0L
delivering 124hp (92kW) to take the fight to the burgeoning hot hatch market. While Volkswagen had the Jetta, and Ford the
Orion, Vauxhall didn’t have an Astra saloon. That changed in 1986 with the Belmont. This was especially helpful to Vauxhall, as
saloons had long been popular in the UK. It helped to fill out both Vauxhall and Opel’s
range, and blossoming sales allowed them to finance it, but giving the booted Astra a
different name confused the marketing message. Vauxhall tried calling it the Astra Belmont,
but when the next Astra generation arrived the “Belmont” name had been dropped, and
Ford would give up on the Orion name in 1993. All mainstream cars were losing their heads
in the 1980s, and the Astra was no exception. The Astra Convertible wasn’t the most elegant
conversion, born out of the fact the designers hadn’t considered a cabriolet during development,
and the extra work involved to produce it showed in the higher price. But despite an awkward roll-over hoop, and
having to put the roof up manually, it gave the Astra some pizazz, especially in hot GTE
form. Talking of the GTE, in 1988 it became the
GTE 16v. Adding more inlet valves became a potent way
to increase performance and having the letters “1” “6” and “V” on the back of
your car was the latest upwardly mobile status symbol. The work on the engine turned the GTE 16v
into a 156hp (116kW) pocket rocket, with 60mph arriving in just 7 seconds. That’s a wild ride for the 1980s and was
on the top of every company rep’s list for their next car. With the Astra, Escort and Rover 200 in a
three-way battle for British supremacy (and the Astra getting the bronze medal), the third
generation Astra appeared in 1991. Over in Europe the car was renamed the Opel
Astra, likely to homogenise the whole range about car names ending in the letter ‘a’. With recent concern about the environment
Vauxhall and Opel were keen to emphasise the new car’s ecological credibility. It got a catalytic converter, and more parts
were made from recyclable material. Despite Opel’s advertising claiming the
name change meant big changes in the car, it was again an evolution from the previous
generation Kadett. It got a new shape and interior of course,
with the same hatchback, saloon, estate and cabriolet versions. In the 70s and 80s safety features were more
an afterthought, but Volvo proved that having a car that seemed safer than all others was
a key selling point. The new Astra would get side impact bars,
a better safety cell and seat belt pre-tensioners, and eventually air bags. A small update came in 1994, with the distinctive
“V” grille, and new “Ecotec” versions of the existing engines, designed to reduce
emissions. It also got better rustproofing to prevent
rust that had been causing recall problems. Sensing a hit, GM would sell the Astra in
more parts of the world. It was already available in South Africa and
would now be assembled in India and Indonesia. In Brazil it was sold as the Chevrolet Astra
until the Brazilian Government effectively banned it by upping the import duty from 20%
to 70%. It would be offered for the first time in
Australia and New Zealand, imported from Europe, and replacing the existing Holden Astra that
was a rebadged Nissan Pulsar. Vauxhall sold 4M Astras between 1991 and 1998,
but customers were starting to look at MPV competition such as the Renault Scénic and
luxury competition like the Audi A3. The Astra had sold well, but it was becoming
about as common as a pile of muck in a muck superstore. Vauxhall would have their own MPV soon enough,
in the shape of the Zafira, built, of course, on the Astra platform, but parent GM had nothing
to combat the badge snobbery of Audi’s A3. The Astra had always been in the top 10, and
continued to sell well for now, but it was always in second place to Ford’s mid-size
car. Other than another style update, the new Astra
focused on two aspects – handling and safety. Previous Astras had been praised for their
handling, but they now lagged the competition, so Lotus was brought in to turn the car into
a class leader. And with Euro NCAP safety ratings becoming
an increasingly important selling point, GM made sure the new Astra did well. To quash any worries about rust, the body
was the first Opel to be fully galvanised. Vauxhall gave its Astravan a sporty makeover,
even though it still sported a diesel engine with the Sportiv in 1999, but the halo model,
launched a year later was the Astra Coupé. Bertone had been converting Astras into convertible
for years, and GM asked them to make a coupé as mid-size coupés were proliferating at
the turn of the millennium, and GM needed something for Vauxhall Calibra customers as
that car had been discontinued. With a turbo it was a potent beast that could
be thoroughly customised with all types of modern conveniences. But the coupé fad didn’t last long, and
it would be succeeded by the Astra Sport Hatch. The Astra had been produced at Ellesmere Port
in Britain for 20 years by now, but like many car companies, GM was starting to produce its
cars in nations such as Poland and Egypt where workers were paid much less. German production would end in 2005. But the staff at Ellesmere Port demonstrated
their commitment to producing a car as efficiently as possible, and production remained. GM forged a joint development agreement with
AutoVAZ, makers of the Lada Riva to produce the Astra in Russia in 2004 as the Chevrolet
Viva. The factory was refitted at a cost of £250M
($340M USD, €294M, $470M AUD). All that expense though had to be repaid somehow
and both companies completely misjudged the market. The car was far too expensive, and only about
1,000 were sold every year before both companies pulled the plug four years later. As aerodynamicists found the optimal low drag
shape of a mid-sized car, changes in design got smaller and smaller, so the new 2004 Astra
looked fairly similar to the 1998 Astra. But underneath it used GM’s all new Delta
platform, again shared with the Zafira, but also shared with America’s Saturn Ion, Chevy
Cobalt / Pontiac G5 and retro-styled Chevy HHR. The new chassis meant it was 14cm (5”) longer
than the old car, giving increased interior space. It was so big it replaced the Chevrolet Vectra
in Brazil, essentially a Vauxhall Vectra, so the Vauxhall Astra in Brazil was surprisingly
called the Chevrolet Vectra! By now the main focus was on the hatchback
and the estate, with the saloon mainly sold in markets that favoured it, such as Eastern
Europe, Turkey and South America. The 1980s had been a time of extreme hot hatches,
leading to a spate of joy riding that curbed car makers desire to sell loud, extreme cars
that could be seen as fuelling this anti-social behaviour. But by the noughties they felt safe enough
to push faster and faster halo models to sell their regular cars, so the Astra VXR appeared
in 2005, known as the OPC on the continent. The 2.0L turbocharged engine got the car to
60 in just 6 seconds, and onwards to over 150mph (240 km/h), becoming the pin up on
many a teenager’s bedroom wall. That power was prodigious, but too much for
the poor chassis that couldn’t keep up. The car was a brute on the track, but you
wouldn’t notice it on your way home from work. A special Nürburgring edition in 2008 gave
a little extra power and made some improvements to the handling to try to contain all that
power. The cabriolet got the automatic retractable
hardtop overhaul that many cars of the period were getting, turning the Astra into the best
of both worlds - a capable coupé when it’s wet and at the touch of a button an elegant
open top when it’s sunny. GM imported the mechanism to North America,
showing up on the Pontiac G6. An interesting option was the panoramic windscreen
that to the driver felt like open top driving without the rain, as their peripheral vision
could only see glass. A handy sunshade could be pulled forward to
block out the sunshine. These special editions helped the Astra shrug
off the competition, but it continued to be the bridesmaid to the Ford Focus’ bride. The USA had used the Astra platform in 2004,
but it got the whole package in 2007 when GM’s funky offshoot Saturn launched the
Saturn Astra. Saturn had started as a new kind of car company
– they weren’t based in Detroit, they used a brand-new design built using dent-resistant
polymer body panels, and dealerships featured no-haggle pricing, meaning a much simpler
and relaxed buying experience. But by 2007 many of the things that made Saturn
Saturn had been abandoned, and it was just another GM sub-brand. Saturn Astra sales weren’t good while there
were still unsold Saturn Ion’s and worries about their future now that GM had gone bankrupt
didn’t help. Sales ended in 2010, but cars derived from
the Astra would continue when the Buick Verano launched in 2011, based on the next generation
Astra platform. The Buick name was weirdly enough popular
in China, with many leaders in pre-Communist days choosing Buicks, so the Astra-based Verano
would be sold and built there. Astra sales were being challenged by crossovers
and more premium models, but they were still respectable with the 2004 Astra selling over
2.7M cars before the next generation model arrived in 2009. This would take its styling cues from the
Vauxhall/Opel Insignia – the replacement for the Vectra. The engines were still evolutions from the
original mk1 Astra engine introduced way back in 1979, although the larger engines had been
substantially re-engineered as Ecotec branded versions around 2000. 5-speed gearboxes made way for optional 6-speeds. The new Delta II platform replaced the old
Delta platform, but this was more of an evolution. And why not, when so many people had enjoyed
the old Astra. It was a little better equipped, a little
safer, a little quicker, a little bigger. But maybe that size increase persuaded more
customers to take a look at Ford and Vauxhall’s smaller models. The Focus was finally beaten in sales by the
Fiesta, and the Astra by the Corsa. There’s only so much space a family needs
I suppose, and if they can get it in a cheaper car, they will. New EcoFLEX diesels were available which promised
fewer emissions with greater fuel economy, although as Vauxhall/Opel were also caught cheating
in the diesel emissions scandal of 2015, these figures should probably be taken with a huge
grain of salt! Maybe because the Astra had kept growing for
6 generations, and customers were favouring smaller cars, the 7th generation Astra in
2015 shrank both in size and weight. Despite being smaller on the outside, Vauxhall
and Opel insisted it was bigger on the inside, like a four-wheeled Tardis but without all
that wibbly wobbly time travel stuff. It again used a new chassis, and this is where
much of the weight savings came from as Opel inspected every component with a fine-toothed
comb. Engines were, finally, also all new across
the range, and included a 3-cylinder for the first time. Efficiency increased on both gasoline and
diesel engines. The Astra kept getting more modern conveniences,
and the new car got everything from Lane Keep Assistance to ventilated, massaging chairs. The Astra got GMs OnStar concierge feature,
born almost 20 years earlier to allow customers to phone a live operator to get directions,
to book a hotel, but also for calling emergency services in the event of an accident or to
track a stolen car. Despite the promise, the take up rate wasn’t
high. The reliance on live operators in the early
days made it expensive especially as GM had to pay for the hardware to be pre-installed
into every car. Ford’s SYNC system was a more automated
reaction to OnStar. Where previous Astras had been sold as saloons,
coupés and cabriolets, the new car would be sold only as a hatchback and an estate,
consolidating the line-up to only those models that sold well. Customers could still buy the old Astra saloon,
but it was the previous generation car. Offering fewer models was likely because of
lower demand, and despite making the car smaller, customers were still buying even smaller cars,
or larger crossovers like Nissan’s Qashqai. Sales were dealt another blow in 2017 when
General Motors announced the sale of Vauxhall and Opel to PSA, owners of the Peugeot and
Citroen brands. Sales of the Opel Astra had been falling for
years, and Vauxhall branded models in the UK didn’t fair much better. Outside of the Buick version in China, Astra
production was down to just two locations - Poland, and Ellesmere Port, that had been
producing it since 1981 when GM had done that deal with the truculent British unions. In 2021, Astra production would move from
Poland to Germany, but production would remain at Ellesmere Port, despite worries over the
effects of Brexit, and the factory celebrated production of its 4 millionth car in 2017. The 8th generation Astra arrived in 2021,
the first under PSA’s ownership, renamed Stellantis now they’d bought Fiat Chrysler. The car had a striking new look, underlining
the new ownership. When PSA purchased Vauxhall/Opel they announced
that all cars would start using PSA platforms and bodies. The new Astra would be build on the EMP2 platform,
used by this raft of Stellantis, Chinese, and Toyota cars. The engine line-up was simplified to just
three engines – a 1.2L 3-cylinder, a 1.6L 4-cylinder and 1.5L diesel, and a Sports Tourer
version was promised upon its launch, presumably with a suitably lively engine. Hybrids and plug-in hybrids would be available
for the first time, something long overdue, and Vauxhall jumped on the EV bandwagon with
the “Astra-e” fully electric car. For the first time the Astra would get an
all-digital dashboard, plus a heads up display, and more automated drivers aids. It’s a new start for a car that’s been
a common sight for more than 40 years, but the Astra and Vauxhall has an uncertain future
with new owners and declining sales. But with a car that can trace its lineage
back to the Opel Kadett in the 1962, it’s a rich history that few cars could hope to
equal. This was quite a long video, but if you want
to watch a quick video where I talk a little bit more about the Astra, and give some of
my opinion, click on the Optional Extra video on the right. Thanks for watching and see you in the next
video.
