Vauxhall has announced pricing for a mid-life update to the Astra, with revised exterior styling, a new interior finish and a larger battery for the electric version.
The physical changes are modest. The front end gets a narrower grille and an illuminated Vauxhall badge, the gloss black interior trim has been replaced with a satin grey finish that should show fewer fingerprints, and physical buttons return for climate control and audio functions. The electric version’s battery has grown slightly, with claimed range rising by around 22 miles to up to 281 miles.
The more interesting development is the pricing. Every version of the updated Astra – electric, plug-in hybrid or petrol mild hybrid, hatchback or estate – costs exactly the same at each trim level, starting from £29,995. That’s a deliberate reversal of the usual approach, where electric versions cost more than conventional alternatives. Here, the electric model is effectively the default choice: buyers who’d prefer a plug-in hybrid or hybrid instead can have one, but they won’t save any money by doing so.
The estate – Vauxhall calls it the Sports Tourer – is also priced identically to the hatchback, which the company says is unique in the market.
There will be small variations in monthly payments on PCP or PCH contracts, despite the identical pricing, as these finance agreements take the value of the car in three or four years’ time into account.
One note on the mild hybrid option: it uses a petrol engine with electric motor assistance and can run on electric power for very short distances at very low speeds. That’s more than most mild hybrid cars, but it can’t drive for any meaningful distance on electric power.
As mentioned, there are only three prices to consider at the moment – £29,995 for the entry-level Griffin specification, £31,495 for the mid-spec GS, and £33,995 for the top-of-the-range Ultimate. Pure petrol models will rejoin the range later in the year, with both manual and automatic gearbox options. These will presumably be cheaper.
Orders open in June, with deliveries from July. We’ll have our review of the updated Astra, as well as updates to our Expert Ratings, next week.
