First look: Insignia wagon joins sedan, hatch

EUROPEAN General Motors affiliates Vauxhall and Opel have revealed a third bodystyle derivative of their all-new answer to BMW’s 3 Series, the premium mid-sized Insignia, which as GoAuto exclusively reported this week is all but confirmed for sale in Australia by GM Holden – alongside the Korean-built Epica sedan.

The wagon version of the Insignia, which replaces the Vauxhaull/Opel Vectra, joins the sedan and hatchback models revealed publicly at the British motor show in July, and will make its global debut at the Paris motor show in October.

The load-hauling Insignia estate, which is likely to eventually join the four-door sedan and five-door hatch versions on sale here, will be available in Europe with the same five Euro V emissions-compliant engines as its stylish stablemates.

Mated to either six-speed manual or automatic transmissions, they include three petrol engines (ranging from a 105kW four-cylinder to a 195kW V6) and two new 2.0-litre direct-injection diesel engines, offering 97kW and 120kW.

However, the longest Insignia variant, which goes on sale in the UK in the second quarter of 2009 as the Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer, will also introduce a more powerful 2.0-litre CDTi turbo-diesel and a smaller-capacity 2.8-litre turbocharged V6 petrol engine from launch. The latter will be the flagship of the Insignia range, propelling the German-build mid-sizer to 100km/h in about 6.7 seconds.

The Insignia Sports Tourer rides on the same 2737mm wheelbase as its sedan and hatch siblings, but measures about 80mm longer overall and will similarly also be available in front-drive and all-wheel drive configurations in Europe.

As with the sedan and hatch, Europe’s Insignia wagon will offer top-end features like adaptive damping, adaptive damping and an on-board camera that sense lane departures.

Holden’s Vectra hatch and wagon range was discontinued in December 2006, before being effectively replaced by the GM Daewoo-sourced Epica sedan in March 2007.

Holden won’t comment on its future model plans, but company insiders have revealed they are laying the foundations to introduce the Vectra replacement here, which would amount to a welcome backflip on its Korean sourcing policy for its small to mid-sized vehicles.

Read more:

Insignia set for Oz

British show: GM signals Insignia

Vectra becomes Insignia

Insignia for Vectra