Nice New Vauxhalls

Vauxhall, bless ‘em, have really made a major thing about trying to corner the market price for the sub compact car in the last 20 to 30 years.

Now that the Vauxhall Corsa has outgrown its micro status and moved into the heavyweight supermini class there has now appeared a gap within their product range and this is one thing that the new car is set to plug.

The idea says the company is to come in and provide a relatively cheap cheerful city car. Basically what has happened with most car manufacturers is that ever since the petrol crisis of the 70s effectively signed the death warrant for the gas guzzlers every man and his dog have been hell bent on trying to provide the smallest and most economic car possible.

The trouble is none of these companies have really got it right from the start and none of them got their analysis of the basic human psychology right.

Yes we all want something for nothing. Yes we all want a car that is as cheap as possible. Yes we’ll want a car that is going to run as cheaply as possible and yes we’ll want a car that would provide all of the previous things (at once as well) but we all want our creature comforts as well.

Therein lines the problem. You see everything is a matter of compromise and nowhere has this become more self-evident than in the sub compact sector of the Automobile Industry. What has happened here is that ever since the manufacturers all launched their micro cars with such missionary zeal in the early eighties is that slowly but surely they have added one extra feature after another so that their original concept has been slowly compromised.

As babies grow into little children and little children grow into big children so have the micro cars grown into the super Mini category. So much so that their involvement has led to manufacturers now announcing that they need a car to take over where the old ones left off.

Such as the new Vauxhall Nova. Proudly following on from the tradition set down in 1983 when the initial Nova was launched, the new Agila as it is now known is aimed at taking off where the original Nova left off. The car is a true hybrid of all of General Motors (Vauxhalls Parent Company) international car divisions. Based around a basic Suzuki platform built at the Japanese companies Hungarian Manufacturing plant the car will share most of its parts with the new Suzuki Splash.

The new Agila is longer than its predecessor but not as tall. The car will come with two classes of petrol driven engine, the 1 litre version and the 1.2 litre version. A 5 speed manual gearbox will be standard in most of the cars but buyers of the 1.2 version will be offered the opportunity of an automatic gearbox.

The company also plans to release a diesel powered version of the car with possibly a 1.3 litre diesel engine in the not too distant future.

The company plan to release the Agila officially to the marketplace at this years Frankfurt motor show in September with the car going on sale to the general public in the spring of 2008.

Stephen Morgan

The new, updated Vauxhall Astra will be launched at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor show and images released by the manufacturer already have fans of the car drooling. After its initial debut at the Motor Show the Astra will be on general UK sale towards the end of the year.

One of the main selling points of the new Astra will be its increased cabin space. This mid-sized family car is often expected to carry up to five passengers in the average household so space is generally very important to buyers. The space within the body of the Astra has been increased and will deliver higher levels of comfort and space for both the driver and any front and back seat passengers.

The cabin of the Astra has also been given a more “premium” feel. Vauxhall have recognised that buyers are searching for value but also quality. The interior of the new Vauxhall Astra has elements of the Insignia and the wrap around instrument panel is particularly striking and well laid out. Vauxhall are aiming to raise the bar in the compact car class and early photos and press releases suggest they might just achieve this.

The popular outgoing Astra is still on sale, with prices starting from around £15,000 OTR. As with many new cars when a new model is set to be released dealers are keen to shift their existing stock, so shop around and haggle. You may grab yourself a real bargain. The current Astra is an impressive and successful car in its own right. It is available with a choice of engines in both petrol and diesel and boasts a five star NCAP crash test rating, so safety standards are high.

Vauxhall currently have a variety of deals in place for the Astra and all other models in their range. A popular deal available on the Astra currently is a zero percentage finance offer. The Government scrappage scheme could also save you a further £2000 if you have a car over 10 years old that you are willing to trade in against a new car.

Author Mark Woodcock is a Webmaster of a wide variety of online specialty shops including a very popular site on New and Used Vauxhall Cars. Visit http://www.vauxhallclick.co.uk today.