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  Despite potential plans to drop the Astra in the Australian lineup, the Euro designed Astra will be unveiled as a five-door hatch at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

The new Holden Cruze has claimed its first showroom scalp.

But it's an own goal for the red team.

The arrival of the Cruze on June 1 means the death of the European Astra, even though it has just been totally renewed and looks the best in the history of the nameplate.

GM Holden has given no confirmation of its plan to drop the Astra from its Australian lineup, but the indications are fairly clear.

"We have to see if there is a business case. We have to see how the numbers stack up," says company spokesman, The numbers are highly unlikely to make sense to Holden, partly because of the likely price for the all-new Astra — which has always been hurt by exchange rates — and partly because Holden will introduce a Cruze hatchback next year which would be in direct conflict with the Astra.

So it will follow the European-built Barina and the mid-sized Vectra, which was always too costly and was eventually overtaken by the Korean- made Epica, into the Holden history books.

Imports of the Astra were cut two months ago because of the currency problem, which has put increasing pressure on maintaining the car's $18,790 starting price in Australia its age.

While the Astra is going, the design of the all-new car points to the impressive work being gone by General Motors Europe on cars which are being sent out as global designs. Much of the work is being translated into the Asia-Pacific region, even if a shared mechanical package is not reflected in the body design.

The Astra is unveiled as a five-door hatch, with an official preview at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, with a wagon, CC droptop and two-door coupe to follow.

The Astra follows the all-new mid-sized Insignia which led GM into a new design era in Europe and took last year's European Car of the Year crown. It was put through 600 hours of wind tunnel testing to ensure minimum drag and maximum fuel economy and performance.

The Astra was designed by Mark Adams, who says he was aiming for a premium look and feel.

But full details are being withheld, with only exterior shots of the body currently available.

Still, GM Europe says the car will come with a range of Euro 5- compliant petrol and turbodiesel engines, including a turbocharged 1.4- litre four that makes 104 kiloWatts.