The next array of South Africa’s most popular half ton bakkie to grace showroom floors across the country will be branded Chevrolet.

The Flextreme GT/E concept car embodies Opel’s vision of expressive, efficient design for environmentally conscious drivers. Cool design meets function on new generation Meriva, whose innovative storage and flexible solutions will help it extend its leadership in the small monocab segment.

With upgraded state-of-the-art diesel power, European-standard ride and handling, modern and dynamic styling, top-level safety and low costs of ownership, the Kia Magentis has all that it takes to meet the expectations of private and fleet motorists.

It is a D-segment saloon that competes with the Ford Mondeo, Opel Insignia and Volkswagen Passat. Even with the gravitation of buyers to compact SUVs, MPVs and so-called premium-badge cars, this sector still accounts for well over a quarter of a million sales in the UK each year.

General Motors’ UK arm Vauxhall is celebrating the retail launch of the all-new 2010 Astra today as the first customers who placed their orders soon after the model went on sale in September received the keys to their cars.

The hotly anticipated 2010 Opel Astra is still a couple of months away from showrooms but that hasn’t deterred German tuning firm Irmscher, which specializes in Opel products, from being the first tuner to develop a sporty styling package for the compact hatch.