Initially, Vauxhall had worked on restyled versions of the Kadett D which would have featured the company's trademark "droopsnoot", as well as a conventional three-box saloon version that would have directly replaced the Viva, however budget constraints meant that General Motors cancelled their development, and the Astra was released differing only from its Opel sister car in badging and trim - setting the precedent for all Vauxhall models from that point on.

Confusingly, in the British market both the Kadett and the Astra were sold through separate marketing operations, with overlapping lineups that competed directly with each other - Vauxhall had tried to mitigate against the overlap by initially only offering the Astra in a limited number of trim, engine and body combinations compared to the Opel Kadett; although this was due to the fact that until 1981, both cars were sourced solely from Opel's Bochum plant - with UK production at Ellesmere Port not starting until 16 November 1981.

Whilst the previous generation Kadett C had been discontinued, it effectively lived on in the form of its Vauxhall sister - the Chevette - which remained on sale partly to keep the Ellesmere Port plant in operation until Astra production started, and also to give an alternative option for conservative customers who remained suspicious of front wheel drive.

It was initially available in 1300 and 1600 forms, and later an 1800 fuel-injected version was added, used in the Mk 1 Astra GTE model, introduced in 1983.

It soon overtook the Austin Allegro as Britain's second most popular small family car, although it was still a long way behind the Ford Escort in terms of sales success.

However, this strategy was mostly unsuccessful, as this was Vauxhall's only attempt at badging its hatchback-based saloon as a separate model, and Ford rebadged its Orion range as Escorts in September 1993.

In 1987 a special one off "design exercise" based on a 1986 1.8 GTE was built by the Ellesmere Port factory to celebrate its 25th (Silver) Anniversary.

In 1990, Vauxhall began exporting Astras badged as Opel Kadetts to other European countries from the Ellesmere Port plant.

[8] The Mark 2 Astra sold well in the UK, and although it was never able to outsell the Ford Escort, it came closer than any other similar-sized car to achieving this.

[10] When this engine was originally released in Europe and the UK it developed 156 hp (115 kW) and 150 ft lbs of torque in standard form.

Between the brochure being printed, and the time they hit the road the "Leather Edition" acquired some extra dealer fit decals to help them stand out further from the standard 16 valve GTE.

Other main changes included mildly-altered exterior styling – featuring Vauxhall's new corporate 'V' front grille first seen on the 1994 Omega, a smoked grey trim panel available on all cars on the rear tailgate to smooth over the protruding rear lamp clusters, and availability of new specification models.

The GSi ceased production in 1994 but was reintroduced in 1997, with the engine being replaced with a lower-powered but more modern 'Ecotec' version (2.0 16v with 134 bhp) the bodykit was slightly altered on these models – a longer rear spoiler with integrated brake light, fluted side skirts, a bonnet without vents, and removal of the GSi16v badging from the bumper and tailgate (replaced by the later chrome effect Vauxhall Astra 2.0 16v badging).

So, the Mark 3 saw the introduction of twin side impact bars, a toughened safety cage, a safely-designed steering wheel (with collapsible columns) and 'body-lock' mechanical front seat-belt pre-tensioners.

The Sport models essentially replaced the GSi cars in 1994/1995 due to a drop in sales caused by insurance prices rising sharply.

The Pacific special edition was a model that featured a complete Irmscher body styling package with 15" Cesaro wheels from the Mark 3 Cavalier.

Following its launch at the London Motor Show in October 1997,[11] the Astra Mk4 was released in Spring 1998 and addressed many of the criticisms of the MK3 in the UK with greatly improved ride and handling.

The growing emphasis on safety was also reflected in greater body rigidity, resulting in a Euro NCAP 4 star crash test rating, considered excellent for its time.

The 8v unit was refined during the model's life however, with the Z16SE offering good all round performance compared with its higher insurance 16v equivalent.

In addition to the standard hatchback and estate variants, the MK4 also had a popular choice of the coupé and convertible, both released in the year 2000.

While a saloon model was offered elsewhere as an Opel, this Astra range did not include one, due to poor sales of its predecessor.

The main variants were Life, Club, Design, SXi, SRi, Elite, and the flagship VXR (Sport Hatch only), which had 240 bhp.

This was the last Astra to include an Astravan variant, production ceased in 2013 and was effectively replaced by the Fiat Doblo-based Combo van.

The Vauxhall Astra Mark 6 was officially unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show and has been available to purchase since late 2009.

The MK1 Astra was a strong seller in the United Kingdom, and quickly established itself as Britain's second most popular small family car, but was never able to match the sales success of the Ford Escort.

The MK2 Astra was a bigger seller than its predecessor, though again it failed to match the Ford Escort in terms of sales success.

Combined sales of Opel and Vauxhall Astra G made it the 26th most popular car in the world, with a total production of 3,799,015.

Its highest success were achieved in the British Touring Car Championship (see BTC-T Vauxhall Astra Coupe).

The Astra Coupe replaced the Vectra in the BTCC after the regulations changed in 2001 and immediately became a successful car in British Touring Car Championship taking both first and second in the drivers championship in 2001 with Jason Plato, 2002 with James Thompson, 2003 with Yvan Muller & 2004 with James Thompson.

They were replaced by Fabrizio Giovanardi who finished fifth overall and gave Vauxhall its 100th BTCC win, Gavin Smith seventh and Tom Chilton eighth.