The new Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer is a fine-looking thing

The new Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer has been revealed in its full, estate-bodied glory, and it’s set to follow the latest Astra hatch onto our roads next year.

As you can see, the face of the Sports Tourer has been inspired by (okay, okay - lifted wholesale from) its hatchback sibling, with that signature Vauxhall Vizor housing the LED headlights, front camera, a number of driver and safety aids, plus the brand’s new logo. Likewise, the rear is a trigger point for deja vu.

Obviously though, it’s bigger: the Astra Sports Tourer measures 4,642mm long, 1,860mm wide and 1,480mm tall, with its 2,732mm wheelbase growing by 57mm over the previous-gen car. Nonetheless it’s actually 60mm shorter than its predecessor, thanks to a shorter front overhang.

Meanwhile there’s 608 litres of space in the boot, rising to 1,634 litres with the 40:20:40-split seats folded down into their fully flat position. There’ll be a plug-in hybrid variant on sale right from the off too, but that’ll make do with 548 and 1,574 litres of space respectively.

Non-PHEVs also omit the option of Vauxhall’s ‘Intelli-Space’ feature; a moveable load floor that also means you can access the puncture repair and first aid kits under the boot without having to entirely unpack said boot. In an emergency, that might be very handy indeed.

The estate’s interior layout is again identical to the hatch, with a 10-inch instrument cluster and 10-inch digital touchscreen forming the focal points of the dashboard. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard features, and in a win for common sense, physical switchgear has been retained for the climate control. Hooray!

Vauxhall is also at pains to explain how little pain its front seats will cause you: they’ve been certified by the German-based Campaign for Healthier Backs, and promise ‘unparalleled comfort’. So you can probably chuck out that plush living room sofa.

Pricing and performance data is being withheld for now, but the petrol and diesel powertrains will deliver between 108 and 128bhp, while the plug-in model will generate 222bhp. But if you want to get a rough idea of what the Astra Sports Tourer will do, we’d suggest reading our Peugeot 308 SW review: same parent company, same car (basically)…

A six-speed manual is standard, while the PHEV comes with an eight-speed transmission. Order books will open early in 2022 and the first deliveries will follow in the summer.