The new 2008 Opel Vectra is obviously very close to introduction based on how many times it has been turning up at the far end of spy camera lenses lately. The latest images that have appeared show a couple of views of the new car with all the striped mylar photoshopped away to give us a clean look at the first vehicle built on General Motor's Epsilon II platform.

The car pictured here will be appearing stateside in about two years wearing Saturn badges as the new Aura. Variants with different bodies will also appear as the next next Chevy Malibu, Saab 9-3 and 9-5, and possibly even more.

reminds me of infinities.... with much more malibu in it

i guess this is EP2?

Don't like the rising trunk lid. If you squint, the front reminds me of a 5-series a bit.

Wow, I'm honestly disappointed.

I hate the shape of the tail lights...they look Korean...and the headlights/front end look like the Epica...it lost it's aggressiveness and it will loose the Aura's clean Euro-styling in favor of Korean.

Hopefully those were part of the Photoshop chop....and it looks better than this, but so far I'm let down.

Note the absense of a hood gap..where does the hood open?

Sort of looks Italian to me, with details from all over the place. Ehhh...

Blah.

Some of it is great styling other parts, I hate. I like the new 'Bu more anyways.

I believe these are just chopped spyshots...nothing more.

Interesting..looks like a retouched photo, but I like the rear quarter creases and the decklid treatment...not so sure about the front door upturned crease, seems like an afterthought...

I believe these are just chopped spyshots...nothing more.

I'm starting to agree with you there after looking at the picture more closely.

I believe these are just chopped spyshots...nothing more.

Hopefully, they are way off as well.

What I see here is bland,bloated, and boring.

Yeah, in fact, I could've sworn I've seen these exact same images (same angles at least) somewhere else as camo'd spyshots. You can even kinda tell because the chop shares the same kind of matte finish that black camo gives off, as well as some other things, like ravenfreak pointed out (lack of hood line), among other things that give it a very strong "chopped" appearance.

edit: upon further inspection, the chrom doesn't fit in at all with the lighting, that opel badge on the rear doesn't fit at all, same goes for the contrast on the taillights, and even the lines (same goes for the headlights, and there would be no reason for the headlights to have a matte finishe like that either). If you look close enough, there is still camo on part of the rear passenger windows, and in the first shot if you look really close you can see the edge of the camo on the hood (looking through the passenger side door through the windshield).

Edited May 24, 200718 yr by Nick

I retract my comment from the other thread. I don't see the Altima any more...I see the Sebring.

That's gotta be one of the worst chops I've seen....

First thing I thought when I saw these was "chops." Definitely not real.

This looks far better.

Invisible Exhausts.

Yeah, those are definitely cleaned up spyshots.

First thing I thought when I saw these was "chops." Definitely not real.

Agreed.

It looks accurate, though. Sort of sad considering it doesnt look all that great.

Invisible Exhausts.

Not quite...Lots of manufacturers hide their exhausts behind the bumpers on some models. Still just a chop though.

Edited May 24, 200718 yr by Nick

Agreed.

It looks accurate, though. Sort of sad considering it doesnt look all that great.

The European press apparently thought the real thing looked fantastic.

The European press apparently thought the real thing looked fantastic.

Oh, what do those Europeans know?! Their car's aren't so great...

"Looks" are not everything in the sedan market. Ask any Camry owner and they will simply say 'my car looks nice', not "fantastic"!

Quality, value, economy, and overall performance are alot more important to many buyers then "it looks great!"

But if it "looks great" on top of "Quality, value, economy, and overall performance" then it's not just keeping up with the competition, it will have an edge.

Good enough isn't good enough. It must be stunning and excellent in every category. That is how you gain sales.

It's not that hard to design a car that looks good. I mean, come on...it's no harder or more expensive (or at least it shouldn't be) to design a car to look good than it is to design a car that looks bad, or even bland for that matter.

Chop details of the GTC on that and you might be headed somewhere.

Yeah, in fact, I could've sworn I've seen these exact same images (same angles at least) somewhere else as camo'd spyshots. You can even kinda tell because the chop shares the same kind of matte finish that black camo gives off, as well as some other things, like ravenfreak pointed out (lack of hood line), among other things that give it a very strong "chopped" appearance.

That's what they say in the article:

"The latest images that have appeared show a couple of views of the new car with all the striped mylar photoshopped away to give us a clean look at the first vehicle built on General Motor's Epsilon II platform. "

I like my 2007 AURA better... hopefully the new EPII AURA looks nothing like the ones shown here (except the red Vauxhall). If it does, Saturn will definitely be losing me as an owner in the sedan market.

The European press apparently thought the real thing looked fantastic.

Of course, it's an Opel!

That's what they say in the article:

"The latest images that have appeared show a couple of views of the new car with all the striped mylar photoshopped away to give us a clean look at the first vehicle built on General Motor's Epsilon II platform. "

The fact that you were the first to pick up on it shows nobody ever reads the articles...

I'll wait until the real deal to form a complete opinion but I hope the next Aura will look better than this photoshops lead me to believe.

This is definitely Photoshopped... and not a very good one at that. Some details looks much sharper than others and requisite gap lines are missing.