The next-generation Vauxhall Insignia will be a very different car to its predecessor.
Florian Huettl, CEO of Vauxhall parent brand Opel, announced at the Munich motor show that the company was "quite advanced in our conceptual work on a replacement" and that it would arrive after 2025 as an all-electric car.
"It will not be a classic D-segment car as the old Insignia was," he said. "We will develop it further as the market develops. The D-segment cars that we've made for many years will take a different shape that will be aerodynamic. They will give versatility and the charging capacity that we need. They won't be standard."
Autocar understands the next Insignia will be a more rakish and premium crossover, higher-riding than the old saloon but not a full-blown SUV. It's therefore likely to be similar in concept to Stellantis siblings the Peugeot 408 and Citroën C5 X.
Underpinning the new Vauxhall – which is unlikely to inherit the Insignia name, given the limited visual relationship between the two cars – will be Stellantis's new STLA Medium architecture.
This will be one of two EV architectures used for future Vauxhalls, alongside the new STLA Small, which will underpin the likes of the Corsa and Mokka in the future, and the STLA Medium, which will underpin the Astra and models above it.
Huettl said these architectures would allow for up to 435-mile range for EVs, 25-minute charging from 20-80% battery capacity, reduced weight, four-wheel drive from a second electric motor at the rear and lower costs, with a €25,000 target price for the likes of an electric Corsa (not including any government incentives).
Huettl reiterated Vauxhall's plan to launch only cars with electric powertrains from 2025 and for all its models to be EV-only by the end of 2028.
The final two models that will be launched with multiple powertrain options, including EVs, will come next year as replacements for the Crossland and Grandland.
While Huettl said that a Corsa would always be called a Corsa, he hinted that the Crossland and Grandland replacements might not keep those names. S
py pictures of the Crossland suggest a completely different size and positioning for that model within the B-segment.
Mystery surrounds any production intent for the Vauxhall Experimental concept car that made its public debut at Munich.
"It's a model that sets a path to a new generation of Opels [and Vauxhalls]," Huettl said. "Will we make a car that is close to that? You will see a lot of what we show on it on the street in the future."
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I assume the successor will be some sort of C5X clone/variant, as that seems to fit the description of its planned replacement
Its only 5 years ago these were launched, and there was a great range of engines, an Estate, and really competative prices. It went wrong after the sale to PSA, who quickly dropped the Estate, and reduced the range of engines whilst pushing the price right up. Most recently if you wanted a manual, you had to have a low powered diesel!
Given the current CoCar tax rules they were only going to sell to private buyers, so high prices and very limited choice resulted in almost no sales. So it gets dropped.
A decent car from a market segment that has almost gone........