Today, Vauxhall released the first official pictures of the Astra Sports Tourer 2011, which will be unveiled at the Paris Auto Show in September and will be available to order from October.Luton – These are the first official pictures of the new Astra Sports Tourer, which will receive its debut at this year’s Paris Motor Show in September and hit UK showrooms by the end of the year.
The Sports Tourer will be the second model to join the new Astra range, which has now sold over 28,000 units in the UK (to end of May) since its launch last December, and has helped the Astra become Britain’s best-selling retail range in the first five months of this year.Combining high levels of practicality, clothed in a typically sleek and rakish body from Brit, Mark Adams’ design team, the Sports Tourer will be available to order from the start of October.
Crucially, the Astra Sports Tourer and its hatch sibling will also be among the first Vauxhall models to adopt Start/Stop technology, reducing emissions and fuel consumption .
Illustrating the depth of Vauxhall’s engineering and manufacturing excellence in the UK, the Sports Tourer will be assembled solely at Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant in Cheshire, while its new upper-body structure has been 100 per cent engineered at Vauxhall Engineering Centre in Bedfordshire. And like the recently launched Astra hatch, the Sports Tourer will feature key dynamic elements tuned for UK roads.
DESIGN
The Astra Sports Tourer’s exterior design aims to raise the bar in the compact-estate market, bringing a touch of class and dynamism, without compromising the car’s high levels of practicality. The tapered profile, falling roofline and prominent ‘blades’ set into the sides of the car are complemented by a muscular shoulder line, which leads gracefully into eye-catching sculpted rear light units.Inside, occupants will benefit from the same embracing, premium cabin as in the new Astra hatch, with features like the wraparound wing front fascia and unique ambient lighting.
