Vauxhall has revealed prices for the Sports Tourer (estate) version of its all-new Astra family car, due on UK roads in late summer.
The large-booted version of the Astra will start at £25K, which will buy the version with a 1.2 turbo petrol engine producing 110hp, in the lower of the two trim levels dubbed Design and GS-Line.
Powertrain choices across the Sports Tourer line-up include a 130hp version of the petrol engine and a diesel also with 130hp, but most interest is likely to surround the first plug-in hybrid Astra.
Based around a 1.6-litre petrol engine and with 180hp, the Astra Hybrid-e model will start from just over £33K and will only be sold in GS-Line specification. All-electric range is quoted at up to 42 miles.
Traditionally a popular model in the Astra line-up particularly with business users, the new Sports Tourer promises 608 litres of boot space, a significant increase over the 540 litres of its predecessor and rising to 1,634 litres with the seats folded flat. Plug-in hybrid versions sacrifice some space to accommodate the battery under the boot floor.
The extra space is released despite the new model being 6cm shorter than the outgoing Sports Tourer. Much of the reduction is at the front end, the new Astra having a noticeably shorter front overhang than its predecessor. The wheelbase section between the front and rear wheels is actually about 6cm longer than the previous model.
The new Astra also adopts Vauxhall’s latest styling language seen previously on the Mokka, Crossland and Grandland SUVs.
All versions of the Sports Tourer will be fitted with a range of active safety systems, including automated emergency braking, lane-departure warning and a driver drowsiness alert. Active cruise control is on the options list, with cars with auto transmissions (available on all but the entry-level petrol engine) able to stop and start automatically in queuing traffic.
A new interior layout includes both a ten-inch digital panel for the driver’s instruments and a ten-inch colour central touchscreen, which will also be standard across all versions of the Astra Sports Tourer.
