THESE are the first official images of the new, British-built, Vauxhall Astra.

It will debut as a five-door hatchback at this September’s Frankfurt Show and will appear in UK showrooms at the end of the year.

Marking the sixth generation of Astra in 30 years, the new car’s design team was led by Mark Adams, the British designer responsible for last year’s European Car of the Year-winning Vauxhall Insignia.

With its strong, cab-forward silhouette, steeply-raked windscreen and sloping rear roofline, the new Astra makes ingenious use of many of the design features found in the Insignia, but in a fresh and innovative way. Also like the Insignia, it has spent over 600 hours in the wind tunnel, benefiting performance, economy and overall refinement.

Adams, vice president of GM Europe Design, said: “We’re continuing with the same premium design cues as the Insignia, inside and out of the car. However, the main design themes, like the wing-shaped light signatures and the blade, needed an individual execution to avoid ‘cloning’ the model ranges.”

Underpinning the Astra’s rakish, 4.4 metre-length body, is an all-new chassis with a 71mm longer wheelbase, improving both passenger comfort and packaging.

Wider tracks front and rear feature, as does a new rear axle design, which not only improves stability and agility, but takes the Astra’s ride comfort into a different league.

Enhancing the Astra’s dynamic performance still further is the option of Vauxhall’s clever FlexRide system, a rarity in this sector which offers drivers three unique damper settings – standard, sport and tour – while being fully adaptive to changes in driving style and cornering speed.

Unique in this sector will be the Astra’s optional, latest generation adaptive forward lighting, which features bi-xenon lighting that changes its intensity and reach to suit prevailing road conditions.

The highlight of the new Astra’s powertrain line-up is an all-new, 140PS turbo 1.4 litre petrol unit, giving engine downsizing and reduced emissions/fuel consumption, while retaining the performance of a larger capacity.

It joins three other petrol engines, from 100PS to 180PS, and four diesel engines ranging from 95PS to 160PS.