1 best of : First Opel Insignia Flagship Rolls off Assembly Line

The first Opel Insignia rolled off the assembly line at the automaker’s plant in Russelsheim, Germany. As we reported before, Buick will likely replace the current Regal sedan with rebadged versions of the two Insignia variants, the five-door Grand Sport hatchback and the Sports Tourer wagon.

The Insignia that rolled off the line in Germany sports a 170-hp 2.0-liter turbodiesel I-4 engine, an option that could make it the U.S. considering GM’s recent foray into four-cylinder turbodiesel engines, now offered in the Chevrolet Cruze and Equinox. Underpinned by an all-new architecture, the Insignia is lower and more spacious than its predecessor, over 400 pounds lighter, features an available all-wheel-drive system with torque vectoring, and offers a host of driver assist safety features such as IntelliLux LED matrix headlights, adaptive cruise control, and active lane assist.

“We have been looking forward to today for a long time; our new flagship has finally arrived. This is an important day for Opel and Rüsselsheim,” said Opel CEO Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann in a release. “We invested more than €500 million just to prepare for the production of our new flagship.”

With GM’s recent sale of Opel to French automaker PSA, it is unclear how long GM will have access to the Insignia, especially since the next Regal will likely be manufactured by Opel in Germany. The current Regal is produced in Ontario, Canada.

The Insignia premiered at the Geneva Motor Show and Opel started taking orders on February 16. Opel hopes the new model will be as successful as its predecessor which sold 940,000 units.

Source: Opel