2017 Holden Astra sedan pricing and specifications

Six months after its hatchback sibling, the 2017 Holden Astra sedan will launch in Australia this month after more than ten years absent from our market.

The 2017 Holden Astra sedan sits on the same platform as its Astra hatchback brother, though its pricing, model lineup and equipment levels vary. In fact, the new Astra sedan is a rebadged Chevrolet Cruze for Australia, though both models share the same platform and both were developed in Europe. Those worried about the Astra sedan being just a Cruze need not worry however, as Holden claims to have developed the Astra sedan’s dynamics for Australia.

“We’ve developed a unique steering tune for Astra which gives it a more balanced and responsive feel and, ultimately, adds to the drivers’ confidence in the car,” said Holden’s Lead Dynamics Engineer, Rob Trubiani.

“We also tuned the car’s suspension dampers and chassis controls to make sure Astra feels safe and comfortable on long journeys, but inspiring to drive through the corners.” said Mr. Trubiani.

Starting from $21,990 drive away, the 2017 Holden Astra sedan is more than $2,000 cheaper than entry level variants of the Astra hatchback range. The differences don’t end there either, with LS, LS+, LT and LTZ forming the sedan lineup – the hatchback has R, R+, RS and RS V variants. Holden is also claiming best-in-class running costs and heavily promoting the car’s capped price service agreement, which costs $916 over the first three years/60,000km or just $229 per year.

The Astra sedan is unavailable with the Astra RS and RS-V’s larger 147kW/280Nm 1.6-litre turbo engine, instead sticking with the Astra R’s turbocharged 110kW/230Nm 1.4-litre engine across the range. Unlike the Polish-built hatchback, the sedan is sourced from South Korea.

Starting at $20,490 ($21,990 drive away from launch), the Astra LS comes with 16-inch alloy wheels, six airbags, stability control, a rear-view camera with rear parking sensors, automatic headlights, a seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and cruise control.

Stepping up to the auto-only Astra LS+ earns you the Holden Eye forward facing camera with lane keep assist, forward collision alert and a distance monitor, as well as projector-beam headlamps with LED daytime running lights, a leather steering wheel and automatic high beam headlights.

The Astra LT appears to be the sweet spot of the range, with 17-inch alloy wheels, blind-spot monitoring, keyless entry and start with remote start, automatic parallel parking, rain-sensing wipers, a larger eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system with inbuilt satellite navigation, a DAB+ digital radio, heated exterior mirrors, illuminated vanity mirrors and a lip rear spoiler.

The top of the tree Astra LTZ arrives with 18-inch alloy wheels, an electric sunroof, leather trim with heated front seats, single-zone climate control and chrome exterior highlights.

Whilst Astra sedans are well equipped, they miss out on features of the Astra hatchback including dual-zone climate control, a heated steering wheel, a manual variant across the range, access to adaptive LED headlights and most notably, autonomous emergency braking and adaptive cruise control.

Holden will no doubt be looking forward to the sedan bolstering local Astra sales, with the range’s 3,155 sales so far in 2017 falling behind the Toyota Corolla (15,624), Mazda 3 (15,624), Hyundai i30 (11,066), Kia Cerato (7,879), Volkswagen Golf (6,748), Subaru Impreza (5,161) and Honda Civic (4,786).

Chasing Cars will be in attendance at the local launch of the Holden Astra sedan, so keep your eyes open for our launch review over the coming weeks. Chevrolet Cruze interior photo used for reference.

2017 Holden Astra sedan pricing:
LS six-speed manual: $20,490 ($21,990 drive away)
LS six-speed auto: $21,490 ($23,990 drive away)
LS+ six-speed auto: $22,740 ($24,990 drive away)
LT six-speed auto: $25,790 ($27,990 drive away)
LTZ six-speed auto: $29,790