The new Opel Astra has arrived in time to impress potential buyers when the January sales season starts. And impress it will. The new offering is a strong contender in the small/medium-size car category and will give Golf, Focus, Auris and Mazda 3 a strong run for their money.

The GM-induced uncertainty over Opel's financial future has not been reflected on the engineering side of the company's business.

In fact, if anything, it appears to have spurred planners and designers to new heights of endeavour. The Insignia, in the large family class, and now the Astra are the best-built Opels ever to hit the showrooms.

The Insignia, full of style and top grade and technology, has proved a winner and there is little doubt that the Astra will not follow suit and make an equally impressive performance in the sales charts. The reason is simple. Wise heads at Opel decided that if the Insignia had the wow factor why not give the same treatment to Astra. So the Astra is very much in the style and quality of the Big Brother which became European Car of the Year.

The Astra has got the Insignia look with soft lines that give it an appealing hatchback look. It is not a radical change on the outgoing model, neither was the Golf or new Mazda 3 but it certainly has an all-new car look with the number plate mounting splitting the discreet chrome edged grille and the wide mouth lower air-intake. The swept-back lights drift back almost to the front wheel arches where the bonnet gets a sharp distinctive crease that rises to the windscreen. The rear gets a curved boot line flanked by mid-mounted light clusters that eat into the boot lid.

Inside, the Insignia trend continues. The centre console and the main controls are much the same and the overall design and quality feel are bound to impress buyers in the family market.

On the road, Astra has no nasty surprises on corners and irons out rough surfaces very well. There is some wind noise and tyre noise which is now a common complaint with almost all new cars as they are being shod on ever bigger and wider tyres.

At the rear the Astra gets a new axle with a Watts link which marketing people at Opel say gives more refined driving than the top-rated Focus multi-link suspension. The Watts link has been developed to cut vibration and improve stability and it will be interesting to test it on Irish roads.

There is also a suspension setting system on offer. Pick 'Sport' and the suspension stiffens to give a firmer drive for more energetic handling and there is also a 'Tour' setting for the driver who likes more sedate motoring. Seats are well designed and supportive.

The new Astra comes with an impressive line-up of engines with economy and low emissions in mind. The 1.4 litre 100Bhp petrol unit gives a 0-100 km/h performance of 14.2 seconds which is not exciting but can return 5.5 L/100km according to Opel. C02 emissions at 129g/km puts into band B which attracts €156 road tax and brings it in at a starting price of €20,695.

A 1.6 litre goes up a band to C and gets €302 annual road tax with C02 emissions of 147g/km. This is a 115 Bhp output engine with a 0-100 km of 11.7 seconds and a fuel consumption of 6.3L/100km. The starting price is €21,695. A 1.4 litre with turbo engine has a 140 bhp output and is offered with a starting price of €23,445.

Of big interest will be the diesel power plants. The big seller will be the 1.3 litre CDTI version with 95 bhp output which Opel say will average over 60 mpg (4.2L/100 km) and attract only €104 road tax because of the low 109 g/km C02 emissions. The start price here is €21,495, more expensive than the Ford Focus with a 1.6 litre diesel 90 bhp unit.

Also there is a 1.7 litre 110bhp diesel with 124 C02 emissions in band B with €156 road tax starting at €22,995 and a high performance 1.7 litre 125 bhp output model at €24,695.