Replacement to the Holden Trax might arrive in Australia wearing Opel badges.
This is the new generation Vauxhall Mokka. The previous model was once offered in Australia as the Holden Trax, and as we know, Holden will no longer exist here soon.
But if importer Inchcape – or potentially another player – go ahead with plans to re-introduce Opel products here, we could well see this new SUV on the market in 2022. Australian filings obtained by Automotive Daily suggest Opel is planning a resurgence soon, with the company registering new badges and nameplates within the last six months.
Revealed in full after months of teaser images, the Mokka gets a radical new look compared with Holden’s baby SUV that carried the Trax name. The new model is 125mm shorter than its predecessor, but it has smaller front and rear overhangs, and the wheelbase has actually been extended very slightly – by two millimetres.
That means this new Mokka should feel more compact than the old Mokka X, yet maintain at least the same level of space and practicality. The new car is wider, too, giving it a more aggressive stance.
The overall look of the SUV is quite different from the outgoing Mokka X’s. It’s heavily influenced by the Opel GT X Experimental, a concept that was released back in 2018. It uses much of that car’s front-end treatment, including an ultra-slim LED daytime running light and a more prominent badge in the grille.
The new front-end treatment has its own name, too. Called Vauxhall Vizor, it’s set to be adopted on every new Vauxhall for the rest of this decade.
The firm’s design boss, Mark Adams, said: “This is what the Vauxhall design of the future will look like. The new Mokka shows athletic proportions combined with precisely structured, flowing surfaces.”
Its roofline is similar to the concept’s too, and although the production car doesn’t feature the GT X’s rear-hinged back doors, Vauxhall’s designers have used a single chrome detailing line to give the impression of a more rakish look.
The tail is rather more conventional, although a crease leading out from the rear door adds a little bit of muscle on top of the rear wheelarch.
The Mokka is another new Vauxhall based on a platform from the brand’s latest owner, Groupe PSA. Called CMP, the chassis architecture is shared with a host of other products from Peugeot and Citroen, as well as Vauxhall’s own Corsa. CMP’s cleverest trick is that it is able to use a wide variety of powertrains – and that means that the Mokka will be available with a choice of petrol, diesel or pure-electric power.
Indeed, the EV version – called Mokka-e – will be among the first wave of variants to arrive. It’ll be equipped with a 50kWh battery and an electric motor driving the front wheels, with 100kW and 260Nm of torque. No performance figures have been released, but the claimed range for the model on a single charge is 201 miles; and the car is ready for pretty much all domestic charging standards, as well as DC rapid charging.
Vauxhall hasn’t issued any details of the combustion-engined versions. But expect a line-up similar to that of the Peugeot 2008, with 1.2-litre turbo petrols in three states of tune – 74kW, 95kW and auto-only 114kW.
The diesel-engined model, which is almost certain to be the smallest seller in the range, will use PSA’s latest 1.5-litre motor, which produces 74kW.
The switch to CMP means that there won’t be a plug-in hybrid version of this Mokka, however, because the platform simply isn’t engineered for that technology. But the combustion-engined variants ought to bring notable efficiency gains over the outgoing model, because this new car is up to 120kg lighter.
Inside, the Mokka promises a further step up in the design and quality of Vauxhall’s cabins and dashboards. There are no conventional instruments; instead there’s a digital display of up to 12 inches across, which operates in combination with an extra infotainment screen (seven or 10 inches, depending on the trim level) in the centre that is angled more towards the driver.
The intended effect of the set-up, called Pure Panel, is for the layout to look like one long display, and it seems a more coherent design here than the arrangement in the latest Corsa. It also helps to cut down on the number of buttons on the fascia.
The boot capacity is described as ‘up to 350 litres’, just six litres shy of the space offered in the old Holden Trax.
The Mokka also gets a fresh range of driver-assistance systems including adaptive cruise control with traffic jam assist, and active lane positioning. All Mokkas will get LED headlights and tail-lights, along with an electric parking brake and traffic-sign recognition technology. Matrix LED headlights, which turn individual LED elements on and off to avoid dazzling oncoming road users, will be optional.
Mokka-e charging and range: how far will it go?
Vauxhall believes the pure-electric Mokka-e will cater for most charging needs. It has support for up to three-phase 11kW charging in AC mode for charging at home, while 100kW DC capability should be standard, allowing the car to be topped up quickly at public charge points to more than half of its 323km capacity in less than half an hour.
Jonathan Burn with Automotive Daily