Vauxhall has confirmed that the next-generation Corsa – due next year – will feature a fully electrified variant, which will roll off production lines at the brand’s plant in Zaragoza, Spain, in 2020.
PSA, which also owns Peugeot, Citroen and DS, took over Vauxhall and its German sister marque Opel in 2017. Late last year, the firm announced the results of a 100-day review of the Opel-Vauxhall business, placing new products and electrification at the heart of its plan for the next decade.
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The 2019 Corsa will be the first new product produced by PSA-owned Vauxhall, and will sit on PSA’s CMP platform – a set of chassis parts that will also underpin the likes of the next Peugeot 208 and DS’s new DS 3 Crossback. The plan aims to reduce the number of platforms used by Vauxhall and Opel from the current nine to just two. By rights, these must be the EMP2 chassis that’s used on everything from the Peugeot 308 to the new DS 7 Crossback, and the smaller CMP, which would suit the Corsa.
The CMP platform supports electrification too, paving the way for the all-electric supermini’s arrival at the beginning of the next decade. Our exclusive image previews how it could look.
In addition to confirming the Corsa EV, Vauxhall-Opel has announced that four electrified models will be in the firm’s line-up by 2020, with a view to offering an electrified variant of every model in the range by 2024.
As such, around the same time as the electric Corsa, Vauxhall is also likely to launch a plug-in hybrid version of its Grandland X – taking advantage of the fact that this model is already based on the EMP2 platform.
This new-model blitz will bring nine new body styles or mid-life facelifts by 2020. PSA also aims to cut the number of engine and gearbox families in the Vauxhall and Opel line-ups from ten to four. “Aligning architecture and powertrain families will substantially reduce development and production complexity, thus allowing scale effects and synergies, contributing to overall profitability,” said the brands’ boss, Michael Lohscheller, last year.
Some Vauxhall models, such as the recently launched Insignia Grand Sport and current Astra, are being hastily revised to take advantage of CO2 emissions gains offered by PSA tech – and because the new owner wants to avoid licence fees it has to pay on every GM-based product it sells. The current Mokka X is likely to be axed as a result – while the Astra and Insignia could be replaced unusually early, by the turn of the decade. Auto Express understands that a new Insignia is the vehicle in the “D-segment” that the management confirmed for a switch to EMP2, and for production in Russelsheim, in Germany.
PSA’s plan also includes a further “EMP2-based SUV planned for 2019”; this will be a seven-seat SUV, in effect a sister car to the Peugeot 5008 and a resurrection of a project that Vauxhall and Opel were working on at the time of the takeover.
PSA’s boss Carlos Tavares has stressed that “tough decisions” will need to be made, but Vauxhall-Opel’s management says it is committed to keeping factories open and avoiding compulsory redundancies. Lohscheller also reiterated his commitment to the Vauxhall badge. “There is clear brand positioning,” the boss explained. “Opel will stay German and Vauxhall will stay British.”
Now read our in-depth review for the current Vauxhall Corsa here.