Two small sedans for the central and eastern European markets have been announced today: the Fiat Linea and the Opel Astra.

The Fiat Linea is the sedan version of the Punto (punto is the italian for point, linea for line). It will be shown for the firt time at the Istanbul auto show (November 2-12 2006) and will be built in Turkey by Tofas, the joint venture between Fiat Auto and Koç Holding, in the Bursa factory. Deliveries will start in the second half of 2007.

The Linea was designed by the Centro Stile Fiat, headed by Frank Stephenson (the “creator” of the Mini), with Giugiaro’s Grande Punto as a starting point. The Linea is 4.56 m long, 1.73 m wide and 1,5 m high, with a wheelbase 2.6 m long). The trunk has a capacity of 500 liters (17.7 cubic feet).

Standard spec on the Linea will be pretty rich for a vehicle of its range, while engines and transmissions are expected to be mostly the same as the Grande Punto (including the very popular 1.3 Multijet turbo-diesel engines and the Dualogic robotized transmission).

The other small sedan is the Opel Astra. It too will be be shown at the Istanbul auto show. The Astra Sedan will be built at the Gliwice factory in Poland. Deliveries will start in the second half of 2007.

Astra Sedan customers will be able to choose between two gasoline engines and two diesel engines, with power ranging between 90 and 140 ps. The Sedan uses the same platform as the Station Wagon version of the Astra, with a wheebase of 2.7 meters. It we be 4.62 meters long, 1.75 m wide and 1.46 m high. Just a bit longer than the Linea (5 cm), but the trunk has the same capacity (500 liters).

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