Ouch.
Local marque Holden have been forced to make a rather sad decision, axing the Astra Sedan & Sportwagon from the local lineup due to supply issues further up the chain. The shuttering of GM’s Korean plant and the axing of the Chevrolet Cruze in the US (on which our Astra Sedan is based) meant that there was no longer a production line to produce them. As for the Sportwagon, its 11.2% sales contribution just wasn’t worth the complication.
This means that the Astra hatch will go it alone against competitors like the Volkswagen Golf, Ford Focus, and Peugeot 308 without any body variants to match the competition.
The demise of the Astra Sedan & Sportwagon were confirmed by Holden sources to CarAdvice, and went on to clarify that the Sedan & Sportwagon will remain available and visible online for as long as stocks last. The source did also mention that dealers “weren’t exactly overburdened” with stock, meaning if you absolutely need one of these Astras in your life, you’d best move fast.
While a “gap” was acknowledged with the departure of the Astra Sedan, Holden currently has no options to explore within the GM range, as all their current saloons that are about Astra-sized are all left-hand drive. It remains to be seen if GM will actually bother to try and replace the Astra Sedan locally, but our bet is on a firm ‘No.’
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