Opel builds 500,000th Insignia at its Russelsheim plant. Its a white Insignia Sports Tourer fitted with Opel’s new 192hp (195PS) 2.0 BiTurbo diesel engine. Opel already sold 150,000 Insignias in Europe with the UK and Germany remaining the biggest markets with 46,000 and 26,000 deliveries respectively, less than four years after its market launch in October of 2008. There are about 40 percent were Sports Tourers (station wagon), 40 percent were five-door liftbacks and 20 percent were sedans.

“I and all the employees here at this plant are very proud of today’s achievement,” said the plant’s director, Axel Scheiben. “Right from the start we knew that the Insignia was a true winner. I am delighted that the 500,000th Insignia is equipped with the latest two-liter BiTurbo diesel engine. The new unit was launched very recently and has already enjoyed very positive feedback from the media and customers.”

GM also offers a North American version of the Insignia sedan called the Buick Regal, which is produced at the company’s facility in Ontario, Canada.

A new more powerful diesel has been added under to the Vauxhall Insignia line up in the UK. The 2.0-liter unit delivers an output of 195PS at 4,000 rpm. The new Vauxhall diesel is based on the existing 2.0 CDTi used on several Vauxhall models such as the Insignia, Astra and new Zafira Tourer range but in the Insignia BiTurbo.

The added power unit reduces the 0-60mph time by nearly one second to 8.2 seconds for the Insignia FWD Hatch.

The Vauxhall BiTurbo model is actually more fuel-efficient than the single turbo version thanks to a suite of eco features that include standard Start/Stop system, with the FWD Hatch returning a combined 57.6mpg UK, 2.2mpg better than the single-turbo 2.0 CDTi 160PS model.

The new Insignia BiTurbo is available with a choice of five-door Hatch and Sports Tourer bodies in SRi, SRi Vx-line and Elite trims, with UK prices starting from £27,120 OTR.

Vauxhall introduced its hot version of the Insignia sedan with the VXR moniker. The Unlimited option removes the standard Insignia VXR’s 155mph restrictor, allowing Vauxhall’s range-topper to exploit its all-wheel-drive chassis and 325HP turbocharged 2.8-litre V6 engine to the full topping out at 170mph.

The 0-60mph sprint time remains unchanged with the Insignia VXR Unlimited hatch equipped with a 6sp manual completing the dash in 5.6 seconds.

The package is priced at just £250 and is available with either manual or auto transmissions, and in Hatch, Saloon and Sports Tourer body styles. The Unlimited option also adds blue Brembo logo on the car’s front brake callipers and a newly-designed tachometer and speedometer, showing higher increments.

The Opel Insignia Sports Tourer has been recruited for duty by the Polizei force of the German State of Hesse. The authorities announced that they have ordered a total of 800 patrol cars, with the first 100 examples to be delivered this year.

All Insignia patrol cars will come fitted with special equipment including additional rear warning lights with LED tech, a pull out tray system for the trunk which can be replaced with a transport box for police dogs.

Opel added several engines in the Insignia range (known as the Buick Regal in the U.S.) for better economy and CO2 emissions. In the five-door liftback and four-door sedan ecoFLEX models, emissions have now dropped from 136g/km to 129g/km, with a corresponding improvement in fuel consumption from 54.3mpg UK [5.2lt/100km] combined, to 57.6mpg UK [4.9lt/100km]. As a result of the lower emissions, UK customers won’t have to pay VED for the first year.

In the Insignia Sports Tourer ecoFLEX version, C02 emission drop to 134g/km while delivering an improved fuel consumption of 55.4mpg UK, up from 53.3mpg UK.

The 2.0 CDTi 160HP versions benefit from C02 emissions of 144g/km (down from 154g/km), along with a 6.5 per cent lower fuel consumption, while the 2.0 CDTi 130HP engine emits 136g/km of CO2, an 11.5 per cent reduction

The Opel added that all 2.0 CDTi engines also benefit from a raft of changes to reduce noise and vibrations. At least in the UK, road prices for the diesel-powered Insignias remains the same.

The Insignia is now offered with an Adaptive 4×4 system as an option on the 220HP 2.0-liter and standard on the 2.8 V6 Turbo and OPC models.

Good news for Insignia’s fans: the high-performance variant of the Opel /Vauxhall Insignia will make its debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in Britain that runs from July 3-5. The 325HP Insignia OPC (also known as VXR on the Britain market), the rear-wheel-drive, 6.2-litre supercharged V8 engined VXR8 Bathurst S Edition 560HP that will be performing a ‘Smoke Gets in Your Eyes’ display in front of the Goodwood House.

Look at the first official photos of the estate version of Opel Insignia OPC. The Opel Insignia OPC station wagon, a.k.a. Sports Tourer, shares the same mechanical underpinnings with the four-door sedan. It comes with a four-wheel drive chassis mated to a 2.8-liter V6 equipped with a twin-scroll turbo cranking out 325 horsepower and 400Nm or 295-lbs/ft of torque.

Insignia OPC Sports Tourer give a zero to 60mpg (96km/h) sprint time of 6.0 seconds, or 0.2 seconds slower than the OPC sedan, the estates top speed is electronically governed at 250km/h or 155mph.

The Insignia Sports Tourer OPC catch a new front fascia with tear-like air scoops at both corners, side skirts and a redesigned rear bumper that integrates the chromed exhaust pipes.

The Opel Insignia OPC Sports Tourer will arrive to Europe showrooms this autumn.

GM’s UK Special Vehicles division designed the all-new police specification version of the Vauxhall Insignia. The new police Insignia will available with all body styles – sedan, liftback and the Sports Tourer estate (look at pictures). Police car will equipped with 2.0-litre 220HP turbo or a 2.8-litre 260HP petrol engine and all-wheel drive, or a 160PS 2.0 CDTi diesel with front-wheel drive.

The Police-spec Vauxhall Insignia comes equipped with all of the usual patrol car knickknacks including Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) cameras, Automatic Numberplate Recognition (ANPR) system, roof lightbar with 360 blues, side alley lamps, sirens and full comms radio equipment.

“The Insignia is showing very good conquest potential, all the way to customers of classic premium brands,” says Alain Visser, Vice President Opel at General Motors Europe. “It is a symbol of our performance and ability – it shows what Opel can do.”