Super TestCar reviews - Holden - Astra - City 5-dr hatchHolden modelsOverview9 May 2003 ALREADY five years-old when launched in Australia, the TR Astra arrived locally suddenly for two reasons. Firstly, Holden's relationship with Toyota dissolved, so supply of the unsuccessful Nova Corolla-clone was drying up and secondly, Holden struck up a deal with Opel in Germany that if it bought up X amount of TR Astras then its far, far-improved TS of late 1998 would be available under more favourable conditions. This inter-General Motors back-scratching ultimately worked wonderfully for Holden, which hit paydirt with the latter Astra, but the earlier TR model was received with mixed reviews and buyer indifference. It wasn't a patch on its successor either, with dull dynamics, a smallish cabin and a reputation for unreliability and suspect durability in its native United Kingdom - although the latter hasn't really come to fruition here as yet. Interestingly, the TR's 1984-1991 European Astra predecessor was never sold here by Holden during the 1980s (we instead got Nissan-sourced Pulsar-based LB-LD Astras from 1984-1989 as well as the unpopular 1985-1988 RB Gemini from Isuzu in Japan), but it did arrive a decade late as the first Daewoo sold here, the hot-selling 1994-1998 1.5i/Cielo, built in South Korea. So in 1998 Aussie buyers could buy all three GM Europe small-car generations new... Model release date: 1 September 1996 to 1 June 2004 All car reviewsAlfa Romeo Abarth Alpine Alpina Audi Aston Martin BMW Bentley Chevrolet Chery Citroen Chrysler Dodge Cupra Ferrari DS Ford Fiat FPV Foton GWM Great Wall Holden Haval HSV Honda Hyundai Hummer Isuzu Infiniti Jeep Jaguar Lamborghini Kia LDV Land Rover Lotus Lexus Maserati Mahindra McLaren Mazda Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-AMG Mini MG Nissan Mitsubishi Peugeot Opel Proton Porsche Renault Ram Rover Rolls-Royce Skoda Saab SsangYong Smart Suzuki Subaru Toyota Tesla Volvo Volkswagen |
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