Opel Astra On Sale RIGHT NOW In North America

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

Yes, that’s right Europhiles, you can buy an Opel Astra in North America…it’s called a Buick Verano, and it will join the more familiar Astra hatchbacks with four gasoline and three diesel powerplants at launch, as well as a 1.6L turbocharged 4-cylinder at some point in the future.

Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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  • Forraymond Forraymond on Jun 11, 2012

    Saturn worked that way. It was the same price whether you purchased from the lot or ordered from the factory. I ordered 3 that way over a 10 year span. I am not aware of a reasonably priced car company that offers this option in the States.

  • Jason Lombard Jason Lombard on Jun 11, 2012

    This post actually accomplished the impossible; it caused me to visit the Buick website to get more information on the Verano. Unfortunately, when I arrived, I found that I can't actually price one out because of a site error "Your session has expired. Please click 'Start Over' to reset this vehicle." That message happens at page load in the "build your own" section when attempting to select a trim level. They probably don't need one more thing to overcome when trying to sell their vehicles.

  • Clemens Gleich Clemens Gleich on Jun 11, 2012

    An Astra. Oh joy. A second-rate car from a second-rate manufacturer (Opel) now made in their second-rate factories. ...but it *does* look nice.

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    • MeaCulpa MeaCulpa on Jun 12, 2012

      Well the Pug has improved significantly in the rust department and are now pretty much acceptable. On the other hand the reliability is pretty sub standard considering that most of the cars are pretty low tech compared to most of zee Germans.

  • Wmba Wmba on Jun 12, 2012

    The Verano is just a Cruz in disguise. So, apparently is the new Astra, if it's the same as the Verano. This post is highly confusing, as a commenter mentions above. Are we talking about the European debut of the Astra, or the Verano that's already available here in North America? I quote from C/D: "And while it shares GM’s “global compact vehicle” (formerly known as Delta II) architecture with the Chevy Cruze and Volt, other than basic size, there’s no hint of family resemblance. Most of the exterior sheetmetal and chassis tuning came the long way through the GM hierarchy—from the Opel Astra." Well, the C/D editors may not notice a resemblance, but they may well be blind. It's pretty obvious to the average car nut. Now that's wheels within wheels. It's like trying to figure out which cow your McDonald's hamburger came from. Once 45 carcasses are shoved in the masher, you might get a bit of everything.

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