NEWS
7 AUGUST 2019 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 17
CONFIDENTIAL
THE RECENTLY
launched GLB is the eighth
model in Mercedes-Benz’s
compact car line-up – and
Mathias Geisen, the fi rm’sdirector of compact car
product management, has
refused to rule out adding
more in the future. While
insisting the fi rm has no
current plans to expand the
range further, Geisen said:
“Ten years ago, nobody
expected we would offer
eight compact cars, so never
say never. But we’ve got a
really good balance now.”
T H E AU DI Q 4 e -t r on w i l l
be the fi rst car to offer
personalised lights when it’s
launched in 2021. Design
b o s s Ma r c L ic ht e s a id t he r e ’ l l
be up to 25 options for front
and rear light signatures.
ALTHOUGH THE
671bhp Volkswagen ID R
that set the Nürburgring lap
record for EVs uses different
batteries from VW’s
forthcoming ID electric
car range, it is providing
valuable data about how
to boost battery effi ciency,
according to VW Motorsport
technical boss François-
Xavier Demaison. He said:
“We are working closely
with road car engineers
and lessons we’re learning
on both sides are pushing
battery development.”
“WE NEED LESS macho
cars” says Hyundai-Kia’svice-president of design, Luc
Donckerwolke. “We have a
high proportion of female
designers within HMC
[Hyundai Motor Company].
A woman designed the new
Tucson. When I did my
rounds, she told me to go
away and not look, because
she hadn’t fully resolved
her design. I liked that.
They have to take a more
aggressive approach with
the engineers.”
VXR Vauxhalls set to return
Corsa tipped to re-ignite VXR brand with 200bhp-plus hot hatchback
A decision has yet to be
made on the exact debut datefor a performance-oriented
Corsa, but insiders suggest
nothing will arrive until 2021 at
the earliest.
The brand is first focusing
on rolling out the models
that are core to its crucial
electrification strategy,
including the new Corsa, plug-
in hybrid Grandland X and the
new Mokka, which is due next
year and will join its supermini
sibling in being offered as a
pure-electric version.
Also arriving in 2021 will be
an all-new Astra, based
on PSA’s modular EMP
platform, unlike the current
GM-developed car. The new
Astra will almost certainly
include an electric version
alongside regular petrol and
diesel units, although EMP
hasn’t been developed to take
hybrid powertrains.
LAWRENCE ALLAN
VXR power source could be either petrol or electric
New Corsa VXR would
go head to head with
the Ford Fiesta STPrevious Corsa VXRs
h ave so l d we l l i n th e U K
and mainland Europe
UK MANUFACTURE OF ASTRA IN DOUBT
The future of Vauxhall’s
long-established Ellesmore
Port factory has been put
into doubt, along with the
jobs of 1000 employees who
work there.
CEO Carlos Tavares hassaid a replacement facility
for the plant – where the
Astra has been built since
1981 – has been earmarked
in mainland Europe in
the event of poor trading
conditions as a result
of Brexit.
“Frankly, I would
prefer to put it [the
Astra] in Ellesmere
Port, but if the
conditions are bad
and I cannot make
it profitable, then I
h ave to p r o te c t th e r e st of
the company and I will not do
it,” Tavares said.
The firm previouslyannounced plans to ready
the plant, situated near
Liverpool, for the next
generation of Vauxhall’s VW
Golf rival. But that depends
on the final terms of the
UK’s exit from the European
Union, with Tavares saying a
no-deal scenario “cannot be
considered”.
V
auxhall is planning
a revival of its now-dormant performance
sub-brand, VXR, and a
hot Corsa is on the cards as the
next model in the pipeline.
Although a source at the firm
indicated that Vauxhall’s rival
to Fo r d’s ST a n d H o n d a’s Ty p e
R is “in a bit of a hiatus now”,
Autocar understands company
executives are considering a
return to the hot hatch sphere
in the near future.
There was some concern
that new owner PSA, engaged
in a dramatic profit-driven
turnaround of the Luton brand,
would consign VXR to the
history books. The French firm
is yet to officially confirm a
new GTI version of the Corsa’s
platform-sharing sibling, the
Peugeot 208. But bosses
are understood to be waiting
to decide between petrol or
electric propulsion for a new
hot supermini, likely based
on how sales of the standard
electric variant take off.
The Corsa is considered
the best hope for a revival of
VXR on account of its historic
sales success in the UK, and in
mainland Europe as an Opel.
The past three generations of
the Corsa have been available
with VXR variants.
The chosen power source for
a new Corsa VXR will hinge on
PSA’s decision for the 208 GTi.
Our source was keen to point
out that the VXR sub-brand is
synonymous for being “track
focused, a bit lairy and very
much hardcore” – qualities thatwould suggest petrol power is
the most natural fit. An output
of more than 200bhp would
be needed to compete with
the best in the small hot hatch
sector, the Ford Fiesta ST.
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