UPDATE – check out our review of the Vauxhall Astra and its launch at Millbrook

More details have been released about the upcoming Vauxhall Astra. It looks like a typical set of of computer-tweaked beauty shots, but they do show off the sleek lines of the new Astra. Unfortunately the pictures only show the five-door, and not the three-door ‘Sport Hatch’.

2009 Vauxhall Astra 5-door

Engines will be shared with the Corsa and Insignia, but there is one new unit confirmed for the Astra – a 138bhp turbocharged 1.4 petrol (with 170lb-ft of torque) that will replace the current 1.8-litre.

The five-door Astra is scheduled to hit the roads late this year, while the Sport Hatch version will follow in 2010. There is still a VXR version in the pipeline for 2011, despite the economic meltdown and the extremely fragile state of the Vauxhall/Opel group.