Sat in a couple of Astras at the Chicago show. As an Opel, the Astra has been a very strong seller in Europe. It will soon be offered here as a Saturn.

The three-door’s exterior is considerably more distinctive than the five door’s. Is it distinctive enough that people will notice it? Maybe.

The interior seems of fairly high quality, about the same level as a Mazda3, but with a more solid feel. Still not quite up to a VW.

The largest problem with the interior: it’s bland. There’s nothing distinctive about the interior design. I generally like an off-black interior, but the Astra’s dark gray interior comes across as drab rather than upscale and sporty. Though the trimplates are the now common faux metal, they don’t help much. The piano black trim plates offered in Europe would be better.

Seat controls are the European rotary type. Good for continous adjustment, but hard to reach.

The front seat provides decent lateral support, but didn’t strike me as all that comfortable. The rear seat in the five-door offers good room and comfort for this class of car, more than in a Mazda3, about the same as in a Rabbit.

The large five-spoke wheels look great on these cars, but they suggest that more than 140 horsepower is underhood. Power could be a weakness, 140 from a smallish 1.8-liter four isn’t quite competitive.

The main question is how they can sell this car at a price that is low enough for Americans yet high enough to turn a profit. Once prices are released I’ll get them into TrueDelta’s database ASAP, so we can see how they truly compare. VW makes many of its German-engineered cars in Mexico, and still has to charge premium prices for them to earn a buck. I don’t think Saturn has the cachet to charge similar prices for the Astra.