Opel and Vauxhall are now part of Groupe PSA, the parent company of Peugeot, Citroen, and DS Automobiles. What does it mean? It's the end of the road as we know it for General Motors in Europe and "change is coming" for the used-to-be Euro subsidiary of the General because they will be providing all the R&D provided by PSA in their vehicles. One such example is the all-new crossover known as the Crossland X and it's time to examine what's what.
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| 2018 Opel Crossland X |
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| 2018 Vauxhall Crossland X |
Known by many as the replacement to the Meriva MPV because, ahem, crossovers prevail over MPVs and minivans alike in the automobile race, the new Crossland X hints to everyone the "Change Is Coming" scenario from Opel-Vauxhall following their departure from General Motors and their arrival to Groupe PSA. Why? With a little sense of cognitive cross-examination, you will examine what's underneath the new Crossland X. It's basically a Peugeot 2008 underneath, meaning it's a clear sign that "change is coming" for the car makers who used to belong with the General.
First off, what's it look like on the outside? For a crossover that bears the same size as the 2008, the Crossland X incorporates the signature front grille as seen on its big brother, the Mokka X, as well as the new Insignia range, while the side view looks very stylish, yet conspicuously familiar, and the rear view looks like a Nissan SUV that used to live in its home market before it left.
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| 2018 Opel Crossland X interior |
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| 2018 Vauxhall Crossland X interior |
On the inside, the Crossland X, despite the 2008 connection, looks pretty much as roomier as the Meriva it replaces. Good rear space as well. On the gadgetry side, the Crossland X features smartphone connectivity good enough to be Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatible so your sat-nav will behave just like smartphones, only different. With so much good stuff around here, the Crossland X is just pretty much like the one your sis drove during the after-hours, only different.
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| 2018 Opel Crossland X |
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| 2018 Vauxhall Crossland X |
Even though the Crossland X looks like an SUV, it still behaves like an MPV indeed and because of the 2008 connection, the Crossland X is powered with a choice of a 1.2L, 1.2L turbo, and a 1.6L diesel engine, all sourced from Groupe PSA. The most powerful version will be the 1.2L Turbo with 130PS of power and 230Nm of torque and with the 6-speed manual, it does 0-100kph in 9.1 seconds and onwards to 206kph, quicker than those Japanese compact MPVs it may come across on the highway. The most fuel-efficient, meanwhile, is the one with the 1.6L ecoTEC diesel variant mated to a 6-speed manual with 3.8L/100km of combined fuel economy.
Handling-wise, the Crossland X no longer feels like a Chevrolet Orlando, which is no longer on European roads for quite some time now, and because it's now underpinning the same platform as the Peugeot 2008, it has a French flair to its driving character. It no longer has that sauerkraut feeling but rather a souffle when you taste its handling traits. On a normal work day, the Crossland X feels not so bad to drive but on your day off with the kids, this is where the Crossland X gets even more challenging and because this is a five-seater crossover, the biggest threat of all is the invasion of the child seats on the second-row seats and therefore, not a great choice for a family mover so the Crossland X should be better off as an after-hours car to drive with your mates or use it to fetch other people when you got joined to a certain ride-hailing company as a driver, as long it's not UBER.
To get the Crossland X ready on the road ahead, it comes with a wide array of driver aids such as Adaptive Forward Lighting, a head-up display, 180-degree Panoramic Rear View Camera, Advanced Park Assist, Forward Collision Alert with pedestrian detection and Automatic Emergency Braking, Driver Drowsiness System, Lane Keep Assist, Speed Sign Recognition, and Side Blind Spot Alert.
The price? The Crossland X starts at 16,850 Euros (£17,755), which sounds more affordable than the Peugeot 2008 it's based upon, making it a great value for money in a world dominated by crossovers like this. Although the Crossland X is an ideal alternative to MPVs, it's not an ideal measure as a family car due to its five-seater capacity and when child seats raided the entire second-row seats, it's your loss. As a city car to drive with your mates, it feels good and on a day-to-day basis, the Crossland X is a revelation. In fact, this is a revelation to Opel/Vauxhall's change following its acquisition by Groupe PSA from General Motors and now that they're under French control, expect the best and worst to come in the future of Opel/Vauxhall.
Photo: Opel/Vauxhall
