Here is the new Opel Insignia
Sports Tourer. Based closely on the Insignia
Grand Sport sedan, the new Sports Tourer is set to debut at the Geneva Motor
Show next month to replace the outgoing model that won Europe's Car of the Year
award back in 2009.
So what we're looking at, is the same
fresh architecture and Monza-inspired design, but with a stretched roofline to
offer more utility. More than 100 liters more utility, in
fact, as cargo capacity has grown to 1,640 liters thanks to a
load floor that's nearly four inches longer.
That means the new Insignia Sports Tourer is larger
than the model it replaces, but thanks to lightweight construction materials
and more efficient packaging, it's a good 200 kilograms lighter
than the model it replaces.
Naturally it also benefits from all the advancements
rolled out on the Grand Sport sedan, including the intelligent,
torque-vectoring all-wheel drive system and adaptive suspension. Full technical
specifications have yet to be revealed, but GM says that it “will be available
with a range of turbocharged petrol and diesel engines along with latest
generation transmissions, including the new eight-speed automatic gearbox.”
The vehicle you see here will be sold as an Opel
across Europe and in many other markets around the world, and as a Vauxhall in
the UK. The Australian version has been revealed simultaneously as the new
NG-generation Holden Commodore Sportwagon, for which initial specs have been
confirmed to encompass four-cylinder gasoline and diesel engines and a
range-topping V6 model delivering 308 Hp and 273 lb-ft of torque to all
four wheels through a nine-speed automatic transmission.
Whether it's wearing a lightning bolt,
griffin, lion, or triple-shield badge on the snout, though, what you see is
essentially what you'll be getting at dealers around the world wherever the
long arm of The General reaches.