(continued from above)
"The Astra GTC is the sporty member of the Opel family," says Karl-Friedrich
Stracke, Chief Executive Officer of Opel/Vauxhall. "It has been designed and
engineered in our facilities in Rüsselsheim to be a highly desirable sports
coupé with invigorating driving performance while remaining affordable, roomy
and flexible. We're convinced that it will bring a breath of fresh air into the
sports compact segment".
The GTC is the ultimate Astra in design and
driving dynamics. Accounting for 15 to 20% of all Astra sales, it will further
energize the successful Opel compact family, which increased its segment share
in from 8.3% in 2009 to 11.4% in 2010.
Muscular Body Design
The 2012 Opel Astra GTC is very much inspired by the Opel GTC Paris Concept
revealed last fall at the Mondial de l'Automobile in Paris. A compact, sporty five-seater
with coupé appeal and dramatic proportions, the Astra GTC has a unique design:
it does not share any exterior element with other members of the Astra family,
except for the outside rear view mirror housing and the rod antenna. Six of the
seven 17- to 20-inch wheel designs on offer are also GTC-only features.
"We wanted the Astra GTC to be the ultimate expression of Opel's design language
'sculptural artistry meets German precision' and to embody our passion for the
automobile," says Mark Adams, Vice President, Opel/Vauxhall Design. "However, we
did not want emotion to overshadow functionality: the Astra GTC is a clever and
affordable dream car."
In profile, the designers have maximized drama by
limiting the amount of lines: just three create tension and sculpt the shape of
the Astra GTC. A fine, crisp line that sweeps downward from the front door to
the bottom of the rear fender and energizes the body side, the Opel signature
blade is introduced in the same direction as in the Insignia. A second line
encapsulates the door handle and stretches to the rear, emphasizing the GTC's
dramatic stance by spreading the surfaces to a fine undercut and a broad
shoulder. The third line following the clean, sporty silhouette of the roof is
finished in chrome and accentuates the window graphic, which guides the eye to
the sharply integrated spoiler.
The clean front features Opel's typical
centerline crease and is accented by intense, slim eagle-eye designed headlamps
featuring "wing-shaped" daytime running light graphics. These act as parentheses
around the refined chrome emblem bar and the separate, dramatic trapezoidal
grille, which is placed lower for a race track feel that hints at a sporty
character.
The shoulder section is the most dramatic area of the Astra
GTC. Its powerful design gives the car imposing proportions and a very
purposeful road presence in highlighting its low, wide road-holding stance. The
line from the C-pillar slides into the tail and curls around into the rear
spoiler, which is ingeniously integrated into the continuing roof line. Optional
LEDs highlight the stretched "wing-shaped" motif of the tail lamps.
Opel Astra GTC: Review (2/2)
