Vauxhall Insignia in Detail

Market and Model

Stylish Vauxhall Insignia shakes up traditional mid-size class segment

• Saloon and hatchback body styles
• Distinctive: Elegant and sporty silhouette
• Versatile: Five engines from 130PS to 260PS

London. With its breathtaking design and leading technology, the new Vauxhall Insignia makes its world premiere at the 2008 British International Motor Show, with a clear remit to rejuvenate the traditional mid-size segment.

“In the same way that Astra and Corsa have freshened up their respective sectors, the new Vauxhall Insignia has been designed to breathe fresh air into what is traditionally a very conservative area of the market,” says Andy Gilson, Vauxhall’s Marketing Director. “Our customers will be able to enjoy premium styling, advanced technology and exceptional dynamics, but at an affordable price.”

The Insignia’s elegant styling combines sculptured artistry with technical precision. Furthermore, Vauxhall has successfully brought sporty coupé design to the mid-size saloon class without compromising interior space – in fact, the Insignia offers three centimetres more knee room than the Vectra. The coupe-like styling has also helped Insignia’s aerodynamics, the car achieving a spectacularly low Cd of 0.27, bringing with it benefits in fuel consumption, cabin refinement and performance. Both body variants have identical 4,830mm length and share the same wheelbase of 2,737mm.

The new car will hit UK dealerships at the end of 2008 with a line-up of five engines. All meet Euro 5 emissions standards and come with either manual or automatic six-speed transmissions. The three petrol engines range from a four-cylinder 140PS unit to a 260PS V6. The two new direct-injection turbo-diesels developed exclusively for the Insignia are both 2.0-litre capacity, but offer different power and torque outputs of either 130PS/300Nm or 160PS/350Nm. All combinations produce competitively low CO2 emissions; an ecoFLEX variant with even lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions will be added in the near future.

The Vauxhall Insignia also highlights many leading technological innovations: the new Front Camera System can both read and memorise road signs as well as alert drivers if they unintentionally veer off the road; the Hot Shot heated washer fluid takes some of the hassle out of winter driving; and the further improved Adaptive Forward Lighting (AFL) also significantly increases driving safety.

Featuring all new chassis architecture, the Insignia is offered from the start with front-wheel and all-wheel drive. The sophisticated Adaptive 4X4 system’s proactive, instantaneous torque distribution ensures driving stability while providing optimal traction and exceptional dynamics.

In the all-wheel drive Insignia, the FlexRide chassis system with its Adaptive Stability Technology helps the car continually adjust to prevailing road conditions and, in addition, allows drivers to select settings to match their mood. FlexRide is also available in the front-wheel drive version.

The Insignia hatchback offers an impressive luggage compartment volume of 500 to 1,465 litres, and includes a ski-hatch opening (not available on entry model) in the rear seat-back for load-through storage. This model is particularly important in the UK market, where hatchbacks enjoy a high share of the mid-size class segment.

The Insignia was developed by General Motors Europe with a significant contribution coming from Vauxhall’s Engineering Centre at Millbrook in Bedfordshire, UK. The car will be built at GME’s plant in Rüsselsheim, one of the most advanced factories of its kind in the world.