Well, these are two pretty similar cars we have here! It's only details that could potentially make the difference. Not only that they both belong to the small family car segment and utilize the same 5-door wagon body style, they are even powered by the same Isuzu-developed diesel engine! There is not much there to point us towards one vehicle or the other. Or is it?

The first thing to look into here would be the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests performed on the two cars. Good thing is that both vehicles got tested, with the same number of safety stars gained in the process. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. Both vehicles belong to the small family car segment, which is generally classifying them somewhere in the middle safety-wise, but it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. Furthermore, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, the American car offers a marginal difference of 4% more metal.

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Chevrolet does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Chevrolet, as well as Opel, with the same average rating of 4.2 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed Cruze as average reliability-wise, and Astra is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as these two vehicles rank it on average as 4.8 out of 5.

Chevrolet is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.6 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 185 kilometers per hour, 5km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the American car, averaging around 3.9 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (72 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 15% difference compared to the German car.

Chevrolet appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, the American car offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. It all continues in the same direction, with Chevrolet being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but Chevrolet. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. Also, you could use the oportunity to find out which car, everything taken into account, would be the perfect choice for you in the eyes of the virtual adviser™, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.