Opel Ireland has launched a commercial variant of its successful Astra five door hatchback. And the first major fleet of new Opel Astra five door vans has been supplied to Eircom, Ireland’s largest telecommunications provider, writes Padraic Deane.
The fleet of 100 vehicles has been assigned to Eircom’s engineering front line managers across the country. This will bring Eircom’s fleet of Opel vehicles to almost 650.
The Opel Astra van combines most of the same features as the passenger version. The recommended retail prices start at €16,538 excluding VAT and are available in two options; the S and SC trims.
The Astra van features a 1.3 CDTi (95bhp ) or a 1.7 CDTi engine that boasts 125 bhp but Opel says that it returns an impressive 4.5l/100km (63 mpg ) combined fuel consumption, with CO2 emissions of only 119g/km. To ensure the maximum standards in safety and reliability, electronic stability programme (ESP ) has been included as standard.
The Opel Astra van has five doors; the rear side doors provide excellent access to the load area which in turn has a steel mesh bulkhead as standard as well as load lashing eyes to ensure the highest levels of safety for the driver and passenger.
The Astra van is also available with a range of optional extras that include satellite navigation, bluetooth, parking distance sensors and a USB plug-in on SC models.
Fergal Marron, national fleet sales manager at Opel Ireland, said: “The Astra has always been popular with fleet customers and the addition of the five door van is a competitive, cost effective, and reliable alternative for our fleet customers who require more economy and style from a light commercial vehicle. The Astra van is ideal for companies such as Eircom as it combines German engineering at an affordable price point.”
