New Vauxhall Corsa GSE: 276bhp all-electric Corsa VXR successor teased

A new contender in the McDonald’s car park car scene is on the horizon as the forthcoming Vauxhall Corsa GSE has been teased. An all-new Vauxhall Corsa is due to be revealed in 2027, but the new GSE will be based on the existing model and platform, sharing parts with the Vauxhall Mokka GSE and Peugeot E-208 GTi. It will essentially be an all-electric successor to the Vauxhall Corsa VXR hot hatch.

While the old VXR’s 1.6-litre petrol engine was characterised by the burbles from its sports exhaust, the new Vauxhall Corsa GSE will instead be silent; like the models mentioned above, the hot Corsa be electric only, but with 276bhp going to the front wheels it should be good for a sub-six-second 0-62mph time.

Packing roughly 50bhp more than the range-topping Alpine A290 GTS, the Corsa GSE will get a multitude of chassis upgrades, including stiffer sports suspension, beefier brakes and a limited-slip differential. Perhaps more noticeable will be the host of styling tweaks; this latest teaser hints at a rather eccentric GSE-exclusive alloy wheel design, but we also expect the hot Corsa to get unique front and rear bumpers, as well as some figure-hugging sports seats like those fitted to the larger Mokka GSE.

All of this will come at a cost, both in terms of range and price. We expect the Corsa GSE with its 54kWh battery to provide a range of just over 200 miles, or around 180 miles in the real world. Given we know the Mokka typically costs around £2,500 more than the equivalent Corsa, and the GSE version of that car is priced at £36,995, the high-performance Corsa is likely to start from around £34,500 when it goes on sale later this year. Eligibility for the Government’s Electric Car Grant would bring the price down further.

Vauxhall is looking to restore itself to a top-three spot in the UK new-car sales charts – up from its current lowly 11th position – and managing director Steve Catlin told Auto Express that greater enthusiasm is a key part of sparking interest. That means the GSE influence stretches beyond the sporting range-topper and into the more mainstream models. 

“I know that in order to reach that ambition, we need to add some further excitement and some emotion into the brand,” he told us, without specifically referencing the Corsa GSE. “We've got the GSE sub-brand launch [with Mokka], which is VXR for the electric age. We need that to filter down to the rest of the range, so that we can add some excitement across the trim levels, as well as the GSE halo.”

Although the naming strategy for the new trims isn’t confirmed, it should follow the likes of Ford’s ST-Line or the BMW M Sport trim levels in offering sportier cosmetic upgrades. “The intention is that you get aspects of that GSE halo,” Catlin continued. 

Vauxhall’s boss said the new breed of sporting models will be better performance icons than the plug-in hybrid Grandland GSE and Astra GSE introduced in summer 2023. “I think we have to be honest and say that the first launch of GSE wasn’t fitting for the brand, but these [new] models are absolutely the right standard and will carry the GSE name in the right way.” 

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