Vauxhall’s freshfre look
Brand to mark a yearye under PSA with future design study
VAUXHALL has confirmed on firmed that a fresh brand design language is on the way, teasing a new concept car to mark the first anniversaryary of Opel and Vauxhall’s takeover by the PSA Group. Called the GT X Experimental, imental, the design study will be revealed imminently. mminently.
It doesn’t have a conventional ventional grille, potentially hinting at a fully-electric drivetrain. There’s no informationn formation on what form the concept will take, although the cleverly draped sheetheet suggests a conventional hatchbackk shape.
The face of the GT X Experimental is also expected to influenceuence the all-new Vauxhall Corsa, which is due in 2019.
Vauxhall vice-presidentnt of design Mark Adams previously told Auto Express: “The [GT X Experimental]al] concept is where we are going withth the brand portfolio in the future. You’ll get some of the flavour and some of the ingredients, but we’re trying to pushh the boundary with the concept beyondnd the Corsa.”
The supermini is Vauxhall’s most important nameplate, with the latest Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders figures revealing that the current Corsa is still Britain’s fifth best-selling car.
PSA has lofty ambitions for the all-new version, due late next year. It’ll sit on the French giant’s CMP platform, enabling an all-electric Corsa to be made at PSA’S Zaragoza plant in Spain from 2020.
This points to Opel and Vauxhall being treated as equals alongside Peugeot and Citroen within the group. A year on from General Motors’ sale of the brands, PSA’S PACE! plan has seen the marques swiftly
return to profitability in the first half of 2018. PSA predicts Opel and Vauxhall will save £1bn by 2020 through sharing development and manufacturing costs, and it aims to double Opel sales outside Europe by 2020 with new importers.
“The concept doesn’t have a conventional grille, hinting towards a fullyelectric powertrain”
DOES Vauxhall’s latest and largest SUV really have X-appeal? That’s the big question I’ll be trying to answer over the coming months at the wheel of a Grandland X.
It’s safe to say that Vauxhall has been slow to embrace the SUV phenomenon. The Antara lumbered on for several years past its sell-by date, and the big-selling Mokka X arguably majors on value more than it does mechanical appeal. Yet Vauxhall set out its stall a few years ago by revealing all its SUVS would be suffixed by an X, hence the name of my latest long termer.
The Grandland X shares its platform and engines with the Peugeot 3008; it’s a good start, as that model has picked up a string of Auto Express and Carbuyer awards. Yet with a few exceptions, everything you can see and touch is all Vauxhall.
From the outside, the Grandland X is handsome, yet inoffensively designed. For me, the design highlights are the shark fin-shaped C-pillars and the aggressive front end. Those 18-inch diamond cut alloy wheels, standard on Sport Nav models, look neat, too.
The interior is smartly styled, if predictably Vauxhall. Storage space is good, and rear legroom is far better than it appears at first glance. The lack of a transmission tunnel creates impressive space in the back, but whether it’s enough for three adults is yet to be discovered. The boot is large – at 514 litres it’s fractionally larger than the 3008’s.
There’s no shortage of kit, either, which is something we discovered when we collected the Grandland X from GO Vauxhall Croydon’s new showroom on its official opening day.
GO Vauxhall’s Ella Harvey showed me around our new Topaz Blue Grandland X. This is a £565 paint option that to my eyes is the pick of the colour palette. On the drive home, I was able to get acquainted with the Sport Nav trim, which is the third of five and is very well appointed. Standard kit includes a speed limiter, traffic sign recognition, front and rear parking sensors, Vauxhall’s slick Navi 5.0 Intellilink infotainment system and Onstar concierge service.
The Grandland X is well equipped in Sport Nav trim, but there’s still plenty to be found on the options list, as our £1,655 of extras confirms.
One option that’s well worth investigating are the ergonomic ‘sports style’ front seats. They’ve been certified by Germany’s Campaign for Healthier Backs, and although I’m yet to put that accolade to the test on a long journey, I’m initially very happy. The seat fabric has a diamond pattern called Harlekin,
“The interior is smartly styled, storage space is good and rear legroom is far better than it appears at first glance”
but time will tell how well the beige upholstery stands up to family life. The inclusion of Isofix mounting points in the front passenger seat is a helpful addition, although you still need to manually deactivate the airbag.
The silver-effect roof rails are well priced at £150, and the £160 wireless phone charger should future-proof the car, when the time comes to upgrade my ageing mobile phone. Finally, the cryptically named £355 Winter Pack One will come into its own later in the year, with its heated front seats and steering wheel.
The Grandland X’s engine line-up comprises a pair of diesels in 1.5- and 2.0-litre capacities, plus a 1.2 threecylinder turbo petrol. And it’s this triple that powers our car. It’s early days, but the engine seems eager and nippy enough around town, although with maximum torque arriving low down at a diesel-like 1,750rpm, there’s little reward in revving it out. Even so, it’s been averaging 38.9mpg so far, but managed more than 45mpg on a long motorway run with cruise control set.
It’s at moderate speeds where the Grandland X feels happiest. The suspension is fairly soft, and the steering is light, meaning the emphasis is firmly on comfort rather than speed.