2017 Opel Insignia Grand Sport debuts

Opel’s mid-size sedan, the Insignia, has received a thorough revamp for 2017. The car, dubbed as the Insignia Grand Sport, will be sold as a Vauxhall in the UK and as a Holden in Australia. In the Middle East though, the Insignia is offered as an Opel.

The design of the Insignia Grand Sport has been reworked by Opel following the lines of the 2013 Monza Concept. A set of matrix LED lights is featured at the front while the rear gets LEDs for the tail lights. The new Insignia is bigger than the outgoing car. Opel has stretched the wheelbase and track by 92mm and 11mm respectively. The roof is lowered by 29mm to endow it with a sportier stance. Despite the increased dimensions, the new model shaves off a good 175 kg from the previous model.

The cabin gets upgrades in terms of material quality. Some aspects of the dashboard design are shared with the smaller Astra, but the overall design is more premium. The top part of the dashboard is lined with leather. The new Insignia is offered with a surfeit of creature comforts which include massage, memory and ventilation functions on the front seat and heated seats on the front and back. The infotainment system supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The powerplants offered with the Insignia is expected to include an array of turbocharged engines, including a new 1.5-litre petrol engine with 163 hp on offer. It will be accompanied by a 247 hp 2.0-litre petrol which will be hooked to an 8-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel-drive system.

We expect the new Insignia to debut in the UAE and GCC within a year as part of an onslaught of new Opel products, this time with support from parent-company General Motors.