More SUVs to emerge from Vauxhall

Vauxhall has revealed it all-new Crossland X, what it sees as a second vital ingredient to the company’s burgeoning SUV offering, which is due to grow still further in 2017 with the launch of the larger Grandland X later in the year. 

Vauxhall Motors on a roll

Vauxhall Motors is set to overtake take Ford Motor Company in the UK car retail business, according to a report in the Mail on Sunday.

Duncan Aldred, chairman and managing director of Vauxhall Motors, is reported as saying: We will be overtaking Ford by 2016. Just after the middle of the decade I expect us to be number one. So I have very high hopes for the Vauxhall brand in the UK. Our mission is to get Vauxhall right to the very top.”

Ford appears undaunted by the claims, noting “Vauxhall has always been feisty, but it’s been saying this kind of thing for 10 years.”

GM to build Mokka in Zaragoza

General Motors’ plant in Zaragoza (Spain) will start producing Mokka, a small sports utility vehicle (SUV) in the second half of 2014.

The combined GM and Opel/Vauxhall leadership made the joint decision because of the high demand for the vehicle in Europe. Also, additional capacity for small SUVs will be created at the plant in Bupyeong (Korea) that has been the sole source of production so far.

Opel chief executive officer Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann said: “The decision for Zaragoza follows our company's strategy of building vehicles where we sell them. The enormous demand for the Mokka underlines the attractiveness of our vehicles, adds momentum to our product offensive and secures jobs in Europe. The decision will help address the under-utilisation of available production capacity in Europe and therefore is good news for the entire organisation.”