A great honor for the new Opel Astra: An international expert jury has recognized the compact car with the internationally known “red dot” award in the product design category.

New Opel Astra proves popular

The new Opel Astra can add the red dot to an expanding trophy case that started with the Goldenes Lenkrad (Golden Steering Wheel), by Germany’s AutoBild and its European affiliates and has expanded in recent weeks to three important awards in Spain and a viewer’s choice prize in Romania, proving that the Astra is valued throughout Europe not only for its sleek lines but also for its innovative technologies.

For the first time since the 1973 inception of Spain’s most prestigious national prize, the new Opel Astra has earned the title Car of the Year by ABC newspaper. The compact has also won Readers Choice 2010 from Prensa Ibérica, La Vanguardia and AutoFácil, and the Car of the Year 2010 in the Canary Islands.

In Romania, 30.000 people voted Astra as “Car No. 1” in a competition organized by an automotive TV show. That award was presented March 14.

Honored for the evolution of Opel’s bespoke design language

The new Opel Astra, developed at Opel’s European Design Center in Rüsselsheim, continues the natural evolution of Opel’s design language, ‘sculptural artistry meets German precision’ first introduced on the Insignia and bringing it newly interpreted for the compact class.

“It is a very special honor to receive this endorsement from an international jury of non-automotive designers. It confirms once again that Opel is on the right track by offering the highest quality components and materials matching the upscale execution,” says Mark Adams, vice president of Opel/Vauxhall Design.

This prize is added to the impressive list of awards already attributed to the new Opel Astra since it went on sale in December 2009. So far, the elegant compact has received 16 awards, including the 2010 Golden Steering Wheel award. The Astra was also named 2010 Car of the year in several countries like Spain.