„Designed in Germany“: How New Opel Astra Arouses Emotions

• Bold and pure design turns new Astra into brand design statement
• Precision in every detail conveys highest quality, inside and out
• All-digital Pure Panel cockpit focuses on essentials
• YouTube-video gives exclusive insights into Colour and Trim Design

The new Opel Astra with its pure and bold design aims to convey high quality in every detail. The sixth Astra generation, which celebrated its world premiere in September, is designed to arouse emotions and achieve the “must-have” effect at first sight. The design and development teams, around 50 per cent of whom are women, set out to make the German carmaker’s new compact model a real “designer piece”, inside and out. Following Chief Engineer Mariella Vogler, Colour and Trim designer Ilka Höbermann now gives an insight into the design world of the new Astra with a video on YouTube. The new video is part of the social media campaign that shows how the new Astra has matured into the brand’s design statement, thanks to high levels of commitment, attention to detail and the willingness to think “out of the box”. Ilka Höbermann explains what the Opel designers paid attention to and how they endowed the newcomer with its unique design, “made in Germany”.

Bold and pure: New Astra reinterprets Opel design philosophy

Following the Mokka, Crossland and Grandland SUVs, the new Astra also features the Opel Vizor. The new face of the brand and the central exterior design element follows the Opel Compass where the vertical and horizontal axes – the sharp crease in the hood and the wing shaped graphic of the daylight running lamps – intersect with the Opel Blitz emblem in the middle. Stretching across the front, making the new Astra look even wider, the Vizor also seamlessly integrates technologies such as the ultra-slim Intelli-Lux LED^® headlamps. Viewed from the side, the next-generation Astra looks especially dynamic thanks to the pronounced forward rake of the C-pillar.

At the rear, the Opel Compass is repeated by the centrally mounted Blitz, the vertical high-mounted brake lamp and the tail lamps (energy-saving LED, as is all exterior lighting). The Blitz emblem also doubles as the latch for the tailgate.

“German design is for me the simplicity, the pureness and the technical elements in combination”, says Ilka Höbermann. “It is sometimes difficult to keep this pureness and then add the boldness. It’s always all about the harmony and the right balance.” The result is a successful mix of clear and emotional styling that makes the new Astra stand out from the crowd of compact class models. The characteristic look is underlined by the new metallic paint. “The team developed a super-fresh and modern yellow that adds some juiciness and boldness to the car”, adds the designer.

Cockpit of the future, realised today: All-digital Pure Panel

The right balance for the new Astra was particularly important to the Colour and Trim design team, especially for the interior. “We had to think out of the box to find the best solutions for these materials. You have a really high diversity of different colours, textures, graphics and patterns. To bring them all together, this actually the big challenge. It is like a big puzzle. You combine different exciting materials to achieve nice contrast or balance”, explains Ilka Höbermann.

The result of this process represents a leap forward in interior design and comfort for the brand. The fully digital cockpit combines two 10-inch widescreen displays and the side air vents for the driver under the horizontally stretched and, depending on the variant, fully glazed surface. Analogue displays are a thing of the past in the new Astra. A fully functional, high-tech design that combines style with cutting-edge technologies. Astra drivers and passengers look at the precise glass optics of the Pure Panel and can intuitively operate the new man-machine interface – “visual detox”.

The ultra-modern cockpit is designed to convey an atmosphere in which passengers feel secure. Accents such as the finely crafted controls, reduced to a minimum, and infotainment frames and surfaces in a matt aluminium bring a “big value to the Astra”, says Ilka Höbermann. “They can be just beautiful, they can have a functional aspect and they can even make you smile sometimes.” Every detail – from the Opel Blitz in the centre of the steering wheel to the fabrics and stitching on the AGR-approved ergonomic seats (also available in Alcantara or Nappa leather) – bears the unique signature of Opel’s Colour and Trim designers.

On social media: “Behind the scenes” information about new Astra

The Opel media page and the Opel Astra playlist on YouTube offer more “behind the scenes” insights into the development of the new Astra. In addition, Opel’s design boss Mark Adams posts his own personal impressions on his Instagram account @opelvauxhalldesign.