Vauxhall today revealed a brand concept that will signpost its design direction across all models in future, while creating a close link with its core values – British, Ingenious, Progressive and Approachable.
Called the Vauxhall GT X Experimental, it is a five-door, all-electric, coupe-style compact SUV, measuring just 4.06m in length. The car bristles with fresh innovation, and is the first physical representation of how Vauxhall’s production-vehicle design will evolve in coming years.
“Vauxhall is defiantly not a prestige brand, and not a ‘me-too’ brand. But we make great cars, and people buy them because of their value, approachability, ingenuity and progressiveness,” said Stephen Norman, Vauxhall’s Group Managing Director. “The GT X Experimental picks up on these reasons for purchase, reinforces them, and creates a clear template for design elements in Vauxhall production cars of the future.”
For the first time, the GT X Experimental also reveals a new theme for the front and rear fascias of future Vauxhall models. The Vauxhall Compass organises the design elements along two strong axes that intersect the Griffin. In a crisper and purer execution, the centre crease line on the bonnet represents the vertical axis, while the wing-shaped daytime running-lights – which will continue to form part of Vauxhall’s production car design – represent the horizontal axis. The rear echoes the front fascia, again showing the Compass, with the Griffin anchoring the horizontal line of the wing-shaped rear lights, and the vertical line from the roof-fin antenna to the crease in the bumper.
Complementing the Compass is the Vauxhall Visor, which is a single module that frames all of the high-tech and brand elements, such as the LED Griffin, and shows the car’s state of operation using different coloured illumination. In addition, the LED matrix headlights, wing-shaped daytime running lights, as well as various cameras and sensors controlling the autonomous driving functions, are all housed under the tinted Plexiglass Visor, which stretches across the front of the GT X Experimental. Like the Compass, the Visor will be another design element seen in all Vauxhalls going into the 2020s.
The Vauxhall GT X Experimental’s airy interior adopts the same ‘visual detox’ principle as its exterior. Surrounded by the panoramic windscreen/roof and uninterrupted side-window, the cabin artfully disguises the raft of innovations contained within it. A standout feature is an instrument panel encased in a module, which mimics the outer Visor, and is called the ‘Pure Panel’. A wide, single screen welcomes drivers and eschews the need for a multitude of smaller screens and buttons, as seen in many production cars today. The Pure Panel allows drivers access to all the GT X Experimental’s technology, without any unnecessary distractions.
The purity of the interior’s design can also be seen in the positioning of the air vents, which have been hidden behind the screens, allowing clean and smooth surfaces all around the driver. Simplifying the occupants’ driving experience, two screens on the far left and right of the front panel display the exterior side views from the small pop-out cameras on either side of the bonnet. Elsewhere, the steering wheel’s design has been simplified, while its central module mirrors the shape of the Visor. And, like the centre-logos on the road wheels, the LED Vauxhall Griffin remains upright, no matter what the steering wheel position.
This clean, high-tech approach flows throughout the cabin. The four seats appear to be floating, while removable speakers nestled under the headrests also allow an out-of-car sound experience. Graphic details also reinforce the interior’s purity of design, with a cropped triangle theme repeated on the seat backs and the accelerator and brake pedals.
