Cars - Blogs.ca

Turkey might not have much in association with automobiles, but its biggest autoshow is currently going on in Istanbul, and there are two international debuts taking place there.

The first sedan is from GM’s Opel brand. It is essentially an Astra sedan with four doors and a proper trunk. The car will be built primarily for Eastern-European buyers, and will be powered by a choice of gasoline and diesel engines, ranging from 88 horsepower to just under 140 hp. It’s not frighteningly interesting stuff, but it should provide good family transportation for those who can’t fathom driving a hatchback. Personally, I think Chevrolet should scrap the whole Cobalt thing and start offering this, even if it does mean importing it from Poland.

The second sedan is from Fiat. It has a little bit more relevance to the Turkish people, as the car not only made its debut there, but it also built in that very country.

Comparatively, the Linea is much nicer looking vehicle than the Opel, and despite having a massive 500-liter trunk, it’s back end looks nowhere near as frumpy and boxy as the Opel’s. Though it’s the size of a C-Segment vehicle, its underpinnings are based off the Grande Punto, which is a B-Segment vehicle, which means engineering this car was done on the cheap, allowing it to be more affordable to the masses.