The top man at Vauxhall/Opel in Europe is determined to make them number one. Having invested heavily in R&D for economy and safety, taking pointers from the inexorable push up market of Ford following their huge investments. Ford have as a result widened the gap in sales volumes and car quality in virtually every model, then came the Insignia.
Insignia Interior
Insignia
Stand out from the crowd.
The Insignia sits well among Mercs and BM’s, but put it on a car park with a bunch of every-day cars and it really is an eye-full, turning heads. The facelift, in our opinion a great improvement, it’s now quieter, better to drive and cheaper. Head to head, this car has got Ford worried about its own equivalent, the Mondeo, to the point where an all new Mondeo is months away from its first shows. Its 15 years since Vauxhall got one over Ford, with the Cavalier, so the investment seems to have paid off.
Quiet, and cheap to run.
Aerodynamic research has brought about a slick, good-looking body, made of modern light-weight materials and powered by engines that have been developed over 20 years with sister company Isuzu. With the 2.0 turbo-diesel Ecoflex version of the Insignia, combined cycle figures of better than 70mpg are achievable and CO2 emissions of 99g/km are market leading by a long way. The car is priced right and its emissions/economy figures are keeping in the mind of all the biggest fleet buyers. As a cash for car choice, its right up with some hybrids.
Easy to live with.
Day today this is a comfortable car, the seats will adjust to any size driver and the steering wheel adjusts also. The dash is pleasing to the eye and in use its logical and has no rattles. The material choices that Vauxhall have used in the Insignia are a big step up, if the upcoming new models are this good, maybe Vauxhall will begin to challenge Ford for number one.
