Title: Vauxhall Astra Content: Vauxhall Astra is a car produced by Vauxhall since 1980. It was first just branded as a Vauxhall, since 1991 it has also been sold as a Opel, a Holden and a Chevrolet. From 2007 to 2009 it was sold as a Saturn. ==History== In 1979, General Motors, the owners of Vauxhall, decided to replace the Viva model (Kaddett in Europe including Republic of Ireland) in the United Kingdom as Vauxhall's small family car. The model still shared its body with the Kaddett, however it had things suited for use in this country, i.e. the steering wheel on the right side so that owners could drive on the left-hand side of the road. The first generation was made from 1980 to 1984 and had hatchback, saloon and estate versions with 2 or 4 doors, the saloons looked identical to the hatchback but they sold poorly and were axed in 1982, the same year when a Bedford van model appeared. The second generation launched in late 1984, being larger with an aerodynamic design, the versions on offer were much the same as before, a saloon model called the Belmont launched in January 1986 with a cabriolet added in Spring 1987. It was given a mild facelift in January 1989. Some versions continued until 1993 when the cabriolet and Astramax van ended production. In late 1991, the third generation launched and this time, the 3-door estate was axed and the saloon from Spring 1992 was just called Astra. A new cabriolet model arrived in June 1993. In late 1994, it was facelifted and featured Vauxhall’s new V grille which appeared on the Omega that launched in the same year. The cabriolet continued until 1999. When it launched, Opel and Chevrolet both binned the Kaddett name. Therefore, they adopted the Astra one. In 1995, Holden did that too. It was only in South Africa that the Kaddett name continued and it was only on the Astra hatchback. The fourth generation launched in Spring 1998 with the same large range as before, coupe and cabriolet models were added in 2000. In 1999, the year after the launch of the fourth generation, South Africa binned the Kaddett name too, leaving no countries/regions/continents using the Kaddett badge. Some versions continued until 2005 as a cheap alternative to the new generation model while the van continued until late 2006 when it was replaced with a new version. In May 2004, the fifth generation launched, the 3-door from early 2005 was made to look more sporty and featured a large, panoramic windscreen on some models, the saloon was axed due to poor sales while in 2006, a hard-folding coupe/cabriolet launched called the TwinTop. It was facelifted in early 2007 and sales continued until 2011 for some versions. The van was axed in 2013 without a replacement. The sixth generation Astra was launched in late 2009 as a hatchback at first and an estate added in late 2010. The sporty 3-door was marketed as the GTC and launched in late 2011. It was facelifted in September 2012 and continued until 2015, 2016 for the estate and 2017 for the GTC. File:Vauxhall Astra Mk I Clare.jpg|First Generation (Opel Kaddett D) File:Astra-mk2-sri.jpg|Second Generation (Opel Kaddett E) File:1994AstraLS (cropped).jpg|Third Generation File:Vauxhall Astra F based panel van registered August 1997 ca 1700cc.jpg|Third Generation Astravan File:Vauxhall Astra 2004.jpg|Fourth Generation File:Bedfordshire-Police-car.jpg|A Fifth Generation Model used by the Bedfordshire Police. File:Vauxhall Astra MkVI 001.jpg|Sixth Generation Category:1970s automobiles Category:1980s automobiles Category:1990s automobiles Category:2000s automobiles Astra