It was the Astra, not the Aura, so just a rebadged Opel, built in Europe.
It was maybe not enough cup holders (article was posted somewhere on this forum or on the site I think, but I could not find it)
My 206 does not have cup holders, and I do not see what I would do with that. I never drink in my car. This may be useful for long trips though. And usually US people make longer trips than people in Europe, due to the distances between cities. This also explains why they have this "cup holder" culture that only appears here now, copied from US, rather than being a need