cawimmer430

Opel’s aging Vectra sedan is well overdue for a major overhaul, but a replacement vehicle isn’t due until the second half of next year. In the meantime, this latest rendering gives us a clue as to what the new Vectra will look like and shows that its designers are likely to adopt the lines first seen on Opel’s Gran Turismo Coupe Concept displayed at the recent Geneva Motor Show.

Several prototypes have been spotted by spy photographers that reveal the new Vectra will have a wider and taller body than the current generation. The larger body is seen as a key strategy towards positioning the new Vectra up-market, putting it on a better standing against cars like Volkswagen’s Passat and the Alfa Romeo 159. It’s also better suited towards US tastes, where the new Vectra will replace the current Aura sedan in Saturn’s lineup in North America.

Based on General Motors’ new Epsilon 2 platform, the new Vectra will remain FWD but will offer better refinement and driving dynamics including the addition of adaptive dampers on high-spec models. The new model range is also expected to include a performance 4WD version powered by a 2.8L V6 turbo developing close to 300hp. Other powerplants in the lineup should include a 200hp naturally aspirated version, as well as a 2.7L V6 turbodiesel.

The wraps should come off at next year’s Geneva Motor Show before the car officially starts sales towards the end of the year as a 2009 model. Before that, another concept car is rumored to be revealed at this year’s Frankfurt Show in September that’s said to be much closer to the production version.

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Kowalski

First the stunningly good looking and safe new Astra, than the ever so clever and safe new Zafira MPV, then the "badass" GTC Concept and now this.

Opel is getting serious!

Just_me

CLS frontlights but upsidedown

The Emperor

You have to be kidding me, Kowalski...

This lame PS of Schulte you find amazing/stunning?

Erm, ok, don't get me wrong and no offense; you can like what you see here, but what i see is that someone just woke up, didn't drink his morning coffee and made this PS. Awful!

Kowalski

No mate. You got me wrong!

I was saying the Astra GTC (below) looks stunning. Not this lame PS.






That is a very innacurate PS.

The PS from Auto-Express looks closer to the GTC Concept and what the Vectra might look like as a production version car.





I like the rear-end treatment, but I'm not so sure about the front.

The Emperor

Much better, thanks!

BMW_Dude

New Vectra: rushed in for '08



Autocar.co.uk can bring you exclusive inside information on the all new Vauxhall Vectra. The new family Vauxhall, previewed in our artist's impression, was originally planned for a 2009 launch, but a dramatic slump in Vauxhall Vectra sales has left General Motors scrambling to get the car to showrooms as soon as possible.

Tear up the launch schedule

The Saab 9-5 was due to be the first General Motors product to use the company’s new mid-size platform, known as Epsilon 2, but a 10 per cent slide in European sales of the bigger-selling Vectra has forced GM to knock the Saab back in the schedule and focus resources on the Vauxhall/Opel product. It is aiming to get the Vectra (probably renamed Insignia, a badge last used on an Opel concept in 2003) into showrooms by autumn 2008.

Scoop pictures we published recently (see gallery) showed the new hatchback cold weather testing in the Arctic Circle. Like the new Mondeo, its main rival, the Insignia will be considerably larger than the car it replaces. The production car should have similar proportions to the GTC concept seen at Geneva last month, which is 4.7m long with a 1.8m-long load space.

It will also share some of the GTC’s coupé profile, with a steeply-sloping rear window and C-pillar to create a significantly more dramatic–looking car than the Vectra. The concept’s unusual upright air intakes below the headlights won’t make production, although the split grille with upper and lower intakes (visible in our scoop pictures) will.

A shift in market positioning

The scrapping of the Vectra name is linked to GM’s desire to improve Opel and Vauxhall’s image. GM Europe’s design boss Bryan Nesbitt said that they needed to add some emotional reasons to the mostly rational ones that people made when buying the Vectra; GM is after younger, trendier customers for the Opel/Vauxhall brands. “Better-looking cars on the road are better for the bottom line,” said a GM source — fewer fleet sales should mean better residual values and more confidence in the brand.

Inside, the Insignia will get the concept’s dashboard. Close examination of the GTC concept’s interior revealed that many of the components, including the dash top, centre console and door bins, were production-ready. GM Europe design chief Bryan Nesbitt confirmed that the company wants to greatly improve the car’s perceived cabin quality.

The front-drive chassis will be supplemented by a four-wheel-drive option, using a new generation of Haldex four-wheel drive transmission. It will be able to shift torque distribution from side to side as well as front to back, to reduce understeer when cornering.

The range-topping Insignia will also use a twin-turbo version of GM’s 2.8-litre petrol V6. Other engines include a new five-cylinder diesel, which we’ll see first in the new Saab 9-3.

Dan Stevens

Source = Autocar

Beemer B773ER

Eventhough that Autocar PS doesn't look all that bad, I can't help but say that the lights and grille remind me of a Honda (Acura), while the mouth treatment echoes Mazda to me.

Honda (Acura) RL


Mazda 6 MPS



If i had to choose between the thread-starter PS or Autocar, then I'd definately pick the latter!

Yannis

I have worild exclussive images of how the new Vectra will look like:

DRAGRACER

I am comfused