Tag Archives: UK

News

Vauxhall’s Big Comeback: The Brit Brand That Refuses to Be Forgotten

Vauxhall’s new boss wants his brand back on the podium — and not the kind with champagne and confetti, but the one where the UK’s best-selling badges sit proudly. The target? Volkswagen, BMW, and Kia — a trio currently eating Vauxhall’s lunch.

Since the Covid slump, Britain’s oldest carmaker has been quietly sliding down the charts, its once-proud Griffin badge outpaced even by its continental cousin, Peugeot. But Steve Catlin, the brand’s new managing director, isn’t here for nostalgia. He’s here for a fight.

“My intention is to put Vauxhall back on the podium,” Catlin tells Autocar. “That’s not an immediate aspiration… but over the next few years, I want to get Vauxhall back onto the podium.”

Tall order. Up to the end of September, Kia had sold 93,000 cars in Britain — Vauxhall, just 66,000. And while the gap is closing, it’s not small. To close it, Catlin’s plan is clear: go back to the people.

For too long, Vauxhall’s relied on fleet sales — those endless rows of silver Corsas wearing company logos like battle scars. Catlin wants to flip the script: fewer spreadsheets, more showrooms. “The UK market is complex,” he says. “Historically, Vauxhall’s been concentrated on a few channels, sometimes to the detriment of the retail market.”

So, the mission: energise dealers, engage retail buyers, and make Vauxhall feel proudly British again.

Britain Calling

In fact, for the first time in a decade, Vauxhall’s launching a marketing campaign made specifically for the UK — not some rebadged Opel ad with a Union Jack awkwardly tacked on. “Rather than taking any kind of generic advertising from Germany, we’re doing something that is specifically about Vauxhall,” Catlin explains.

Translation: more emotional pull, less PowerPoint presentation. Expect more “Made for Britain” pride, fewer spreadsheets about kilowatts.

A New Wave of Metal

Of course, emotion only gets you so far. What really matters is the metal — and Vauxhall’s bringing plenty. The incoming Frontera could be the brand’s secret weapon. It’s bigger than the Mokka but cheaper, and Catlin reckons it’ll storm to second place in the lineup next year — right behind the ever-popular Corsa.

Do the maths: nearly 30,000 Corsas sold last year, around 20,000 Mokkas — if Frontera lands somewhere between, that’s a serious boost.

And that’s not all. The rebirth of the GSe sub-brand — starting with a 276bhp Mokka — could give Vauxhall some much-needed swagger. A proper halo model, with echoes of Nova SRs and Astra GTEs from the glory days. “Everybody that you talk to – certainly of my generation – has got a story with Nova SRs,” Catlin says. “That part of the brand has been missing.”

He’s right. Those old hot hatches were scrappy, characterful, and a bit rebellious — exactly the spirit Vauxhall could use right now.

Why It Matters

Vauxhall’s challenge isn’t just sales — it’s relevance. In a market obsessed with German precision and Korean value, Britain’s homegrown badge needs to rediscover its voice. Catlin’s vision is to make Vauxhall a brand that British buyers don’t just settle for — but seek out.

If the new Frontera hits, the GSe cars bring back a spark, and that UK-focused marketing gives the Griffin some teeth again — well, maybe, just maybe, we’ll see Vauxhall back where it belongs.

On the podium. With a pint. Smiling proudly.

Source: Autocar

News

Duracell Goes Full Throttle: 200 Million Reasons to Keep Britain Charged

Move over, bunny — the battery brand that “keeps going and going” is about to do just that… only this time, it’s charging your car instead of your remote. Duracell has officially announced Duracell E-Charge, a new high-speed EV charging network that promises to inject a jolt of energy into Britain’s electric future.

Over the next ten years, Duracell is dropping a cool £200 million to build a nationwide web of ultra-fast charging stations, each capable of delivering up to 1000 kW. Yes, that’s one megawatt — enough power to make your hair stand on end or, more usefully, to refill a hypercar’s battery faster than you can grab a flat white and scroll through TikTok.

The first six sites will open across the UK later this year, with Elektra Charge taking the wheel as the network operator. Behind the design and funding is The EV Network, the infrastructure experts already running 43 locations with 300 chargers — meaning Duracell isn’t exactly starting from zero volts here.

So, what can we expect? Picture gleaming hubs at motorway services, shopping centres, and city gateways — the sort of places where your range anxiety will go to die. Each location will feature multiple charging bays, convenience amenities, and that signature Duracell copper-and-black branding. Because if you’re going to charge your £80,000 electric chariot, you might as well do it with a bit of style.

It’s a smart move, too. Britain’s EV market is booming, but the public charging network hasn’t exactly been keeping pace. Duracell’s entrance could shake things up, bringing a familiar household name — and a big battery-shaped grin — to a field that desperately needs more wattage and less waiting.

And let’s be honest: if there’s any brand that understands keeping things charged, it’s the one that’s been powering our gadgets since the disco era. Now they’re ready to power the future — one megawatt at a time.

Source: Duracell

News

Volkswagen ID.4 and ID.5: Plugging Into a £1500 Boost

It’s official — the Volkswagen ID.4 and ID.5 have just become a bit more wallet-friendly. Thanks to the UK’s revived Electric Car Grant (ECG), the German brand’s mid-size electric SUVs now qualify for a tidy £1500 discount, nudging prices down to a more tempting £35,495 for the entry-level variant.

That might not sound like much in the world of five-figure EVs, but in car-finance terms, it’s the difference between “hmm, maybe” and “go on then, where do I sign?”.

Volkswagen joins the affordable EV club

The grant applies to Pure Essential, Pure Match, and Pro Essential trims — the more rationally specced ID.4s and ID.5s. That means you can choose between a 168bhp single-motor, rear-drive setup with a 52 kWh battery (good for 221 miles), or a 282bhp twin-motor, all-wheel-drive configuration hooked up to the larger 77 kWh pack, stretching range to a healthier 339 miles.

It’s a pretty compelling mix: proper family-friendly space, decent shove, and the reassurance that you can make it from London to Leeds without playing charging-station roulette.

Volkswagen now has three cars on the ECG roster, joining the ID.3, which slipped under the price threshold earlier this summer and now starts at under £30k. For a brand often accused of letting its EVs hover just above the “sensible money” line, that’s a refreshing change of strategy.

The green light from Westminster

So what’s the catch? Eligibility isn’t just about price tags. The ECG is part of a broader government initiative to promote cleaner motoring, with technical and sustainability criteria baked in — covering everything from component sourcing to manufacturing emissions and shipping.

Out of the 38 electric models currently cleared for the grant, only the Ford Puma Gen-E and E-Tourneo Courier qualify for the higher £3750 level. But even the lower grant tier has been moving metal: the government reckons 20,000 EVs sold last month were ECG-supported.

That’s music to the ears of Keir Mather, the UK’s newly minted Decarbonisation Minister. At just 27, he’s the youngest cabinet minister in two centuries — and now has the unenviable job of steering Britain’s electrified future. His message? Simple. “We want your next car to be electric.”

Charging ahead

To be fair, there are signs it’s working. September saw record-breaking EV sales — more than 70,000 in one month — and the national charging network has just sailed past 83,000 public points, with 100,000 more planned.

So if you’ve been hovering on the fence, waiting for a sign from above (or from Wolfsburg), this might be it. The ID.4 and ID.5 are still unmistakably Volkswagens — solid, sensible, slightly conservative — but now they’re wearing a price tag that looks just a bit more rebellious.

Maybe the electric revolution isn’t coming. Maybe it’s already parked on your driveway — and now it costs £1500 less.

Source: Volkswagen