February 4, 2012

Buick Encore video gives us a proper look at the Opel / Vauxhall Mokka

Buick Encore video

The Vauxhall/Opel Mokka may not arrive until Geneva 2012, but we get a good look at what’s on offer in this Buick Encore video. The whole ‘World Car’ phenomenon that’s sprung out of the mire of the financial woes of the US car industry does lead to a few anomalies. Like the Buick Encore being revealed in the [...]

Is the Saab 9-4X going to be the new Vauxhall / Opel Antara?

Saab 9-4X Antara

With Saab now in receivership, what’s going to happen to the Saab 9-4X. Could it become the new Vauxhall / Opel Antara? Saab is now in receivership despite the best efforts of Victor Muller, and mainly because GM won’t let their technology fall in to the hands of the Chinese. But what’s to become of [...]

Opel / Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer Crossfour revealed

Insignia Sports Tourer Crossfour

Opel / Vauxhall are planning a competitor to the Audi Allroad with a high-riding version of the Insignia Sports Tourer CrossFour. Audi have had the butched-up estate market pretty much all to itself for a long time with the Allroad, but hot on the heels of theVW Passat Alltrack we now look like we’re about to get [...]

Vauxhall / Opel Mocha (Corsa SUV) Geneva 2012 debut

Vauxhall / Opel Mocha

Vauxhall Opel are developing a sub-compact SUV based on the Corsa and called Mokka / Mocha which will debut at the 2012 Detroit Show. Downsizing is all the rage as every day it gets more expensive to buy and run a car. But despite buyers looking for smaller and more economical cars, they want those [...]

Opel / Vauxhall Ampera on hold over Chevy Volt fire

Opel / Vauxhall Ampera on hold over Chevy Volt fire

With the NHTSA investigating Chevy Volt battery fires, the debut of the Opel/Vauxhall Ampera has been put on hold. If you ignore the price, we’re all in favour of the range extender hybrid option as the most elegant solution to electric cars. But new technology is not without its problems, as GM are finding out with the Chevy Volt. [...]

2013 Astra Convertible spied on video – The new Vauxhall Calibra / Opel Manta?

2013 Astra Convertible Spy

We’ve got spy video of the new Astra Convertible, which is based on the Astra GTC and eschews the hard top of the old Astra CC. Arrives 2013. Vauxhall and Opel have now managed to reveal much of the new Astra Model range – with the Astra GTC debuting at Frankfurt last month being the [...]

Chevy Volt to take on Vauxhall Ampera in Europe

Chevy Volt & Vauxhall Ampera in Europe

It’s been revealed that GM intends to sell the Chevy Volt alongside the Opel/Vauxhall Ampera in Europe – and at a lower price. They’ve been hyped for a very long time – the Chevy Volt and Vauxhall Ampera – and 2011 is the year that both hit the roads. You don’t have to be an out [...]

New Astra Convertible in 2013 & built in Poland

Vauxhall/Opel reveals that they will be launching the Astra Convertible in 2013 – built in Poland Last year we had the Astra GTC Concept at the Paris Motor Show which was the 3-door Astra in all but name. And now – in all but name – Vauxhall confirms the production of a the Astra Convertible [...]

2011 Vauxhall Corsa facelift

The Vauxhall Corsa 2011 Facelift

The Corsa – both the Opel Corsa and Vauxhall Corsa – get a 2011 facelift with a new nose, new colours and refreshed cabin. Vauxhall – and Opel too – obviously don’t want to do too much to the Corsa at once. This time last year we had engine upgrades for the 2010 Corsa – [...]

Opel Ampera Euro price €42,900

Opel has revealed that the Euro price for the range-extender Opel Ampera will be €42,900, equivalent to £36,500 It’s always the case that early adopters of new technology pay the price of being the first to adopt a new product or technology. Economies of scale haven’t kicked in and manufacturers are often trying to recoup [...]

Chevy Volt / Vauxhall Ampera: It’s just an ordinary hybrid

GM has admitted that the Volt is not a pure range extender electric vehicle after all. It is in fact just a plain old hybrid. Yes, the headline is a bit dramatic and a bit disingenuous. But no more so than the barking mad claims made by GM for the Volt. How many hundreds of miles [...]

Vauxhall Astra VXR (2012) gets 282bhp + new GTC photos

Astra GTC Concept Paris

The next Vauxhall Astra VXR looks set to get 282bhp if the GTC Concept from Paris makes it in to production unchanged. Vauxhall sneaked us a peek at the 2012 Vauxhall Astra VXR a couple of weeks ago – slightly titivated and called the Astra GTC Concept admittedly – but the 2012 Vauxhall Astra VXR none the [...]

Vauxhall / Opel GTC Paris Concept (Astra GTC) & Astra Sports Tourer at Paris

Vauxhall/Opel are to reveal the Paris GTC Concept at the Paris Motor Show in October – the 3 door Astra to you and me – plus the Astra ST gets a public reveal. October is seriously late in the year – almost winter, for goodness sake – so when we got an email from Vauxhall today telling [...]

Chevy Volt / Vauxhall Ampera doesn’t work

It’s being reported that GM are re-engineering the Volt/Ampera to be driven by the engine as it’s range extender technology fails in the real world. That’s quite a headline. The technology that’s supposed to be the saviour of GM doesn’t work. Or at least not well enough. It seems that GM are about to re-engineer [...]

Opel / Vauxhall Flextreme GT/E Press Release

WORLD PREMIERE GENEVA MOTOR SHOW 2010 THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME: VAUXHALL FLEXTREME GT/E CONCEPT * Dramatic design meets environmental technology * Alternative propulsion; shows versatility of Vauxhall’s E-REV technology Geneva/Luton –Vauxhall will unveil a dramatic concept car at this year’s Geneva Show that is set to boost its credentials as a leader in [...]

Opel / Vauxhall Flextreme GT/E Revealed

The Vauxhall Flextreme GT/E

Vauxhall / Opel are taking the Flextreme GT/E Concept to Geneva, a re-bodied Insignia with Ampera powertrain. We still haven’t got the Vauxhall / Opel Ampera (Chevy Volt) on the road yet, but GM in Europe – in the shape of Vauxhall and Opel – are taking a new concept car to Geneva based on [...]

Meriva 2010 – the Video

We have the first video of the 2010 version of the Opel / Vauxhall Meriva with driving footage and a walk round. GM’s European arm – Vauxhall and Opel – have been on a roll model-wise for quite some time. The Insignia is a really good car and the new Astra has turned out to [...]

2010 Astra – the advert

The 2010 Vauxhall / Opel Astra Advert

Vauxhall / Opel have been on a bit of an advertising blitz with the 2010 Astra and have produced a cinema-length advert for the new Astra. The 2010 Astra – whether it’s an Opel or a Vauxhall – is a very big deal for GM in Europe. So it’s probably just as well that it’s [...]

Vauxhall Meriva (2010) revealed

The 2010 Meriva

Vauxhall has released details of the new (2010) Meriva ahead of the launch at the Geneva Motor Show in March. Back at the end of September we reported on the 2010 Vauxhall Meriva after our photographers had spied the new Vauxhall tramping round the Nurburgring. As we said, not exactly where you’d expect to find the mini-MPV, [...]

Vauxhall planning City Car

The 2004 Opel TRIXX Concept

Vauxhall/Opel’s new European boss Nick Reilly has stated that their number one priority is to develop a City Car for the Vauxhall range. With the world and his dog seemingly trying to squeeze in to smaller and smaller cars, it should come as no surprise that Vauxhall/Opel’s new boss in Europe – Nick Reilly – [...]

Vauxhall – Ellesmere Port jobs safe

Vauxhall's Ellesmer Port Plant will have no job losses

The UK has escaped relatively lightly in the GM restructuring with Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant having no redundancies and Luton around 340. It looks like the bulk of the savings that GM need to make in Vauxhall/Opel are going to fall outside the UK, with the news that there will be no job cuts at the Astra-making [...]

Vauxhall Corsa – 2010 Engine and Economy upgrades

Vauxhall has made performance and economy changes to the Corsa for 2010

Vauxhall / Opel have improved power, reduced fuel consumption and emissions and revised the steering and suspension on 2010 Corsa models. Vauxhall (and for that matter, Opel) has been having a play with the Corsa for 2010. But if you’re looking hard at the picture at the top to see what they’ve done to the [...]

GM Sale to Magna Cancelled

GM has cancelled the sale of Opel and Vauxhall to Magna

In a surprise turnaround GM has this morning announced that it is cancelling the sale of its European division, including Vauxhall and Opel, to Canadian parts maker Magna. It’s been fraught with problems from the start, but what fire-sale isn’t? The unions have been unimpressed with what Magna were offering. The EU has had a [...]

2011 Buick Regal spied

The Vauxhall Insignia based 200 Buick Regal spied

The Vauxhall Insignia based 2011 Buick Regal – due to be launched in 2010 as a 2011 model – has been spotted undisguised and posted on Facebook. It’s surprising where spy pictures of new cars turn up these days. Once upon a time it was persistent guys (and some girls) camped out in areas know [...]

New Vauxhall Meriva (2010) spotted

The 2010 Vauxhall Meriva testing at the Nurburgring

Vauxhall have been testing the 2010 Meriva at the Nurburgring. The 5 Seat Compact MPV will launch at Geneva 2010. This is one of the best shots we’ve seen yet of the new Vauxhall Meriva – Vauxhall’s compact, five-seat MPV – which has been caught out testing round the Nurburgring. Not quite its natural turf, [...]