The eagerly awaited Vectra replacement will arrive in UK showrooms in December 2008 carrying a weight of expectation from General Motors Europe which sees it as the model to push the Opel and Vauxhall brands upmarket.

Carl Peter Forster, president of GME, said the Insignia was “a symbol for the strength and ambition of the Vauxhall brand”.

The Insignia will initially line-up with three petrol and two diesel engines in the UK.

A low fuel consumption Ecoflex version is set to follow in the spring.

The entry-level 1.8-litre petrol Exclusiv is priced £15,935 and diesel prices come in at £16,935 for the 2.0CDTi 130PS Exclusiv.

Despite the Insignia's upwardly mobile ambitions, prices are similar to the Vectra and start at just £400 more than the Ford Mondeo, according to Vauxhall.

As well as the Mondeo, the brand also identified the VW Passat, Renault Laguna and Citroen C5 as key rivals but admitted the Insignia would not encroach on BMW and Audi territory. According to GM UK chairman Bill Parfitt, this also means that in GM's rigid brand hierarchy “mid-range” Vauxhall will not tread on the toes of “entry premium” Saab.

“We must be price competitive but we plan to sell higher up in the trim mix. The design is premium but the price is mainstream,” he said.

Vauxhall aims to sell 35,000 to 40,000 Insignia models in the UK in 2009 and anticipates considerable interest from private buyers as well as the fleet sector.

“There will be more retail opportunity than for the previous model,” a spokesman said.

Parfitt claimed Vauxhall commands 10 per cent of the UK retail market.

The Insignia is set to enter the range behind the C-segment Astra and B-segment Corsa as the brand's third biggest seller.

The entry-level Insignia comes with standard kit such as ESP, automatic headlights, electrically adjustable driver's seat, cruise control, climate control and ABS.