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WE’VE had to wait a few months, but this week we finally get our first glimpse of how the future could look for Vauxhall, one of the UK’s best-loved car brands. The new concept (above), called GT X Experimental and explored in more detail on Page 12, isn’t about to make production tomorrow. But the firm does say its design cues will “cascade across future models” and that its front end will “be the new face” – so it gives us a good preview of how the next Corsa will look when it arrives in 2019. Vauxhall’s future has been called into question more than once since PSA Peugeot-Citroen acquired General Motors’ European operations last autumn. But now, under the guidance of former Renault man Stephen Norman, there’s renewed optimism…

Jonathan_Burn@dennis.co.uk @Jonathan_burn • SUVs will give Italian brand full range in the premium market • Hybrid engines expected, along with plug-in hybrid power “The smaller SUV is likely to become the best-selling model in Alfa Romeo’s 108-year history” ALFA Romeo is planning to add two new SUVs to its expanding product line-up to bookend the popular Stelvio in the range, and both newcomers will be on sale in the next three years. The two new models will give the Italian brand almost complete coverage of the SUV market and will play a pivotal role in helping the marque achieve its target of 400,000 annual sales by 2022. Neither of the SUVs has been named yet, but the smaller one – previewed by our exclusive main image – is likely to…

NEW GIULIETTA DUE: 2020 HEAVILY revised Golf rival, previewed in our image, is expected to land at turn of decade. Investment in Giorgio platform means Giulietta goes rear-wheel drive. BABY SUV DUE: LATE 2020 BASED on the new Giulietta hatch, Alfa’s Audi Q3 rival, previewed in our image, will be launched with hybrid tech and Level 3 autonomous driving capability. GIULIA DUE: 2020 SALOON will soon be one of the oldest models in Alfa’s line-up, so a mid-life facelift will help keep it fresh in 2020. A long-wheelbase model will also arrive. LARGE SUV DUE: 2021 NEXT up for Alfa is the large SUV, again previewed in our exclusive image. A 400bhp hybrid powertrain has previously been hinted at by engineering bosses. STELVIO DUE: 2021 NEXT in line is a…

James_Brodie@dennis.co.uk @jimmybrods “Many of the concept’s design elements will be found on the next Corsa, Mokka and Astra” VAUXHALL has pulled the covers off an all-new concept car called GT X Experimental, which will set the design tone for a flood of future Opel and Vauxhall models arriving in the 2020s. The concept ticks nearly every niche box you can think of and is described as a five-door, all-electric, coupé-inspired compact SUV. It isn’t a direct preview of an upcoming new production model, and is instead a design study showcasing the brand’s future face. So many of the design elements in the GT X Experimental will be found on the next Corsa, Mokka and Astra. It’s also a warm-up act for Vauxhall’s impending electrification push. The brand recently promised that…

Jonathan_Burn@dennis.co.uk @Jonathan_burn “The firm has been without a flagship saloon since the Phaeton was axed” VOLKSWAGEN will return to the luxury class at the turn of the next decade with an all-electric Mercedes S-Class rival based on the I.D. Vizzion concept. Bosses have tasked the unnamed model with helping to instill the brand with a sense of luxury that failed to stick with the Phaeton back in 2002. VW has been without a flagship saloon since that model was axed in 2015. “Phaeton is a symbol of what VW needed at the time. It was the positing of VW into the upper market and showed the capability of the brand, in terms of quality and tech,” sales and marketing boss Jürgen Stackmann told Auto Express. “I.D. Vizzion takes the same…

“A new bumper, headlights and grille based on the latest Honda design language feature at the front” HONDA has given its HR-V a round of updates in a bid to keep the often-forgotten compact SUV competitive against fresher-faced rivals. The revamp comprises an exterior design refresh, changes in the cabin intended to enhance comfort, plus tweaks under the bonnet aiming to improve the model’s refinement. At the front, there’s a new bumper, headlights and grille based on the latest interpretation of Honda’s design language. Revisions at the back of the HR-V are less obvious; a chrome strip connects the tail-lamps, which also have new signatures and darker lenses. Higher-grade editions ride on fresh 17-inch alloy wheels, feature LED headlights and tail-lamps, and are finished with a chrome exhaust tip, too.…