The Opel Astra has been with South Africa for several decades now, arriving in the early 90s with the Astra F of 1991. Prior to that, the equivalent sedan was known as the Monza and shared a platform with the Opel Kadett E. Both the Kadett and Monza enjoyed much success in South Africa (especially at the hands of the Police and Flying Squad) and the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists has been kind to it, awarding the prestigious South African Car of the Year award to the Monza in 1991, the Kadett in 1994 and the Astra in 1995. The current Opel Astra was also awarded the SAGMJ SA Car of the Year award in 2017 with the same model taking the Overall European Car of the Year award in 2016.
Related: 5 Reasons why the Opel Astra deserved Car of the Year 2017
South Africa's love affair with the model has extended to the point where high-performance, South Africa-only models have been created in the form of the Opel Kadett Superboss (Kadett E) and 200TS Astra and Kadett (Astra/Kadett F).
Before you commit to a new, or used, current-generation Opel Astra, make sure that you are up to speed. Here are three things that we think you need to know about the Opel Astra.
1. Refresh imminent.
The fifth-generation Opel Astra (Astra K) launched locally in 2016, shortly after its international launch in 2015. At the time, the Astra offered a surprising amount of "big car" tech in an affordable package. As a whole, the Astra K proved to be a class leader. However, as time has passed the competition has steadily caught up and the Astra K was due for an update in the second quarter of 2020. We know how that turned out.
The global pandemic and resulting economic pressure put a halt to the launch of the updated Astra K. Furthermore to this, the merger of PSA and FCA (Opel was purchased by PSA in 2017) has also delayed the launch of the facelifted Astra.
With the future of COVID-19 still uncertain, we patiently await news of the release date.
2. 3 engine options
The current range of locally available Opel Astras present you with three engine options. There's a 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine in the Astra 1.0T and Astra Enjoy 1.0T. This engine makes 77 kW and 170 Nm torque.
The Astra Enjoy 1.4T is powered by a 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine that produces 110 kW and 245 Nm and is mated to an automatic gearbox. The Astra Sport OPC-Line 1.6T runs a 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine and this one makes 147 kW and 280 Nm torque. it too is mated to an automatic gearbox. There is no dedicated OPC variant at this stage.
International markets get three diesel versions but none of these are made available locally.
3. Cemented in SA
Despite the departure of GM in 2017, we have been assured countless times that the Opel brand is here to stay (for the foreseeable future anyway). In fact, Opel Germany set up a subsidiary that invested over R700 Million into parts, warranty and service plans for South African customers.
Brian Hunter, General Manager of Unitrans OPEL Southern Africa, has been quoted as saying: “We are delighted that investment in the OPEL brand in South Africa has now exceeded R1.5 billion when one combines the investment of OPEL International, the Unitrans OPEL distributor and the group of OPEL Dealers. We estimate that this investment now employs over 1 000 people.”
Bill Mott, OPEL’s director of international sales operations in Germany, indicated that OPEL is focused on growth in Southern Africa and has clear objectives to achieve this. “We view South Africa as a very important market,” Mott stated, “South Africa is a strategic investment for OPEL and our aim is to take the brand from strength to strength in South Africa and other key markets.” in his release to the public in July 2018.
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