The Opel Insignia is a mid size/large family car engineered and produced by the German car manufacturer Opel. Production of the Insignia began in August 2008, as a replacement for the Vectra and Signum. The vehicle is sold under the Vauxhall marque in the United Kingdom, and sold in North America and China as the Buick Regal.
In Chile, the vehicle was originally due to be marketed as the Chevrolet Vectra, but is now sold as the Opel Insignia. The Insignia made its debut in Australia in August 2012, badged as an Opel but was dropped a year later after the brand was withdrawn from the market. It was again launched in Australia (and New Zealand for the first time) under the Holden marque in 2015.
The Insignia is produced in Opel's plant in Rüsselsheim, Germany.
The Opel Insignia Concept is a full-size luxury car (F-segment in Europe) presented by the German automaker Opel at the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany. The car has a V8 engine from the Corvette with 344 PS (253 kW; 339 hp). The Insignia Concept has a hydropneumatic suspension system, a pantograph like mechanism for the rear sliding doors, and LED lighting technology.
In the beginning of 2005, it was announced by Opel that this concept car will not be built, because it would be too heavy and too expensive. This vehicle remained therefore a pure concept study. However, this concept car inspired the 2015 Buick Avenir.
In December 2006, What Car? announced that Vauxhall was to ditch the Vectra nameplate from the previous model. Then General Motors Europe president, Carl-Peter Forster, leaked the news to BusinessCar, explaining that the all new car would be "a radical departure" from the current model, and that the "Vectra" name would be dropped to reflect this change.
In March 2007, What Car? reported the car would première at the 2008 British International Motor Show. Previously, it was thought it would première at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show. In October 2005, Auto Express produced computer generated images, which showed an unused design.
In September 2007, What Car? produced computer generated images, showing what the replacement would look like. That month, What Car? gave an update, confirming the car would première in London, thanks to the success of the Corsa C. In November 2007, What Car? announced that Vauxhall had confirmed that the successor's name would be Insignia.
The Insignia debuted at the 2008 British International Motor Show in London on 23 July as the Opel/Vauxhall Insignia. This reflected the Vauxhall brand that is unique to the United Kingdom. It then went on sale in European dealerships in October 2008 as a four door fastback / saloon, and five door estate, dubbed Sports Tourer – a departure for Opel which traditionally used the "Caravan" name to denote the estate bodystyle.
The Insignia was the first production car to be based on the Epsilon II platform, which was also used on other models such as the 2010 Saab 9-5 and the Chevrolet Malibu.
The Insignia was the first car to debut new badges for both the Opel and Vauxhall brands, and for Vauxhall, it was the first car to dispense with the characteristic "V" grille that has adorned Vauxhall models since 1994, which differentiated them from the otherwise identical Opel models.
The Insignia was also the first Opel to debut many new and improved safety features, including:
At speeds above 60 km/h (37 mph), Opel Eye warns the driver if the car is about to veer inadvertently out of the lane in which it is travelling. The system can detect road markings and, if they are sufficiently distinct, unmarked road edges. The Insignia was the first production car to feature a dual function frontal camera with traffic sign recognition.
Despite its global presence, the Opel Insignia has never been sold in Japan, as Opel had already withdrawn from the market in Japan before launching this model.
Design wise, the Insignia offers 30 mm (1.2 in) more knee room than the Vectra. The saloon and fastback variants have the same 4.83 m (190.2 in) length and wheelbase of 2.73 m (107.5 in). The estate version is slightly longer at 4.91 m (193.3 in) on the same wheelbase.
In the beginning of 2009, Opel revealed the Insignia OPC, a high performance variant of the Insignia. Like the preceding Vectra OPC, it is powered by a 2.8 litre turbocharged V6 (Manufactured in Melbourne, Australia).
The updated engine makes 239 kW (325 PS; 321 hp) and 435 N⋅m (321 lb⋅ft). Of this 435, 400 N⋅m (295 lb⋅ft) are available from 2,000 rpm. It is paired with a six speed manual transmission / six-speed automatic transmission and Saab's (Haldex) active all wheel drive system. The Insignia OPC has a modified MacPherson strut front suspension called HiPerStrut which reduces torque steer.
Also standard is an electronic limited slip differential for the rear wheels and Opel's FlexRide adaptive suspension, which has three settings (OPC, Sport, and Normal). An OPC version of the Insignia Sports Tourer wagon has also been unveiled and is currently on sale. In April 2011, Opel launched the Insignia OPC Unlimited, with no speed limiter.
The Opel Insignia Country Tourer made its world premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2013: The Country Tourer's main competitors were the Volkswagen Passat Alltrack , Audi A4 Allroad, and Škoda Octavia Scout.
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