The new Insignia will take design inspiration from the recently revealed Experimental concept
Replacement for retired executive saloon/estate is set to be aero-optimised, raised EV that majors on versatility
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.”
This cools expectations that Vauxhall had been planning to launch a sporty crossover called Manta with the footprint of the Astra, as the Experimental seemed to suggest.
In future performance models, the GSe badge is set to continue, but there remains no plans for Opel OPC or Vauxhall VXR to come back, in line with plans to have more rounded range-toppers that aren’t just about high performance.
