Vauxhall Mokka 2025 review: The compact Mokka SUV hasn’t changed all that much, and we'd still have an Astra
Just buy an Astra
Let’s face it, small SUVs are a bit of a con-job. Models such as this Vauxhall Mokka, the Ford Puma, the Nissan Juke and so on are based on the mechanical bits and pieces of cars such as the Corsa, the Fiesta (RIP) and the Renault Clio. They purport to offer the space and ruggedness of a big 4×4, but they mostly exist to allow car makers to cash in on the SUV craze and do so on the cheap. By turning their small hatchbacks into “SUVs”, they can charge the same price as they would for a larger Focus or Astra, but it’s all based on a cheaper mechanical package. For similar money, an Astra is a far more accomplished car than the Mokka, for example.
The updates to the Mokka are pretty minor, but then this has been a consistently strong seller for Vauxhall (albeit it hasn’t broken through to the top ten yet this year) so there’s an argument that it didn’t need much changing.
Really, what Vauxhall has done for the Mokka is to give it a light skim of fresh plaster and some new paint, rather than stripping everything back to the brickwork and starting from scratch. Actually, the new paint bit isn’t mere analogy — Vauxhall is offering new paint colours with “Tropikal Green” and “Kolibri Blue” now on the options list.
There are some very subtle changes to the front of the Mokka, where the “vizor” grille layout features new headlights with a new LED lighting signature, and the option of ultra-powerful “Intellilux” Matrix LED headlights which are strong enough to strip the fur from passing wildlife. Or so it feels. There’s also a new mesh-style finish for the lower grille, which sits within the front bumper, and restyled air intakes with deeper blade-like shapes at the outer edges.
Down the back, there’s a little more sculpting going on in the rear bumper, and there’s now a strip of body-coloured trim in the bit that’s supposed to look like a race car’s diffuser, while the line that sweeps along the top of the side windows and down into the rear pillar — which can look a touch like the awkward “Landau Roof” of huge American sedans of the 1970s — has been made a little more subtle. The changes aren’t dramatic, and you’d probably have to metaphorically be the Mokka’s mum to notice them, but they do at least keep the overall design looking reasonably fresh.
There are bigger changes afoot inside. There’s little visually that’s new, aside from a new steering wheel, which is flattened a little at the top and bottom, and which is more or less lifted from the bigger Vauxhall Grandland. It’s quite a nice wheel to hold, and the buttons for cruise control and stereo functions are easy to use, but it does look a touch cheap, which seems odd.
As for the rest of the cabin, space and comfort up front are fine, but space in the back is a touch restricted and probably best left for the kids, either for those starting their families, or for those downsizing in later life and needing something to bring the grandkids for a day out. At 350 litres, the boot is on the small side for this class, and you lose another 40 litres if you go for the battery-powered Mokka Electric. Again, for the same money, an Astra hatchback, while it might not be as fashionable, is a whole lot more practical.
The bigger changes inside the Mokka have to do with the touchscreen and its software. There’s a pair of 10in screens in the dashboard, one for the driver’s instruments and one for the infotainment system. The on-screen menu is customisable, and you can move widgets around to your heart’s content. Vauxhall says that this means the system works “just like a smartphone” which is true enough, but we wonder does that mean a Nokia running the Windows Phone software as that’s the closest visual match for the Vauxhall’s graphics. Thankfully, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard fit, although you need to upgrade to a top-spec Ultimate version to get a wireless phone charger.
The on-screen menus are fine. Thankfully, Vauxhall remains one of the few car makers to see sense and retain physical buttons for major functions such as the air conditioning and stereo volume. Long may that continue.
Vauxhall now fits, as standard, ChatGPT artificial intelligence software to the Mokka (and to other cars in its lineup). This, in theory, allows you to chat naturally to the “Hey, Vauxhall” digital voice assistant, and it is in fairness good at doing things within the car such as changing the cabin temperature or inputting a navigation destination. You can, potentially, have a general chit-chat with the machine, or ask it for personalised recommendations for nearby restaurants, or even ask it to make up a quiz to keep everyone in the car entertained.
Is it any good? Not really, no. Intelligent it might be, but it’s always obviously artificial in its responses, and as with any voice control system it seems as likely to fall back on “Sorry, I didn’t understand that” as a response. Or to call your mother-in-law’s mobile phone when you’ve asked it to open the windows. Let’s just say that the Mokka isn’t passing the Turing Test any time soon.
Mechanically, there haven’t been any changes for the Mokka. There’s an all-electric version as before, which no longer can be had with the old 134bhp electric motor option and the smaller 46kWh battery (that’s the useable capacity, although it was advertised as a 50kWh unit). Now, the Mokka Electric only comes with a 154bhp motor and the bigger 51kWh battery, giving it a range of up to 250 miles — although 220 is a more realistic figure, and spending a chilly day on the motorway might limit you to as little as 150 miles.
There are some petrol-powered options too, including a basic 1.2-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine with 134bhp and a manual gearbox, an automatic version with the same engine but de-tuned to 128bhp, and a 48-volt hybrid with a six-speed dual-clutch automatic and 134bhp.
That hybrid version — it’s kind of a half-way house between a barely-worth-bothering “mild hybrid” and a full Toyota-style hybrid — is £2,000 more than a basic petrol Mokka, and £1,000 more than the petrol automatic, so you’ll really have to drive it carefully if you’re going to make that extra cash back in fuel savings, and it only saves you £75 in VED road tax a year, which is about what it will cost to fill one tank. Officially, the hybrid is around 10mpg more economical than the other two, but you’ll have to work hard to replicate that gap in real life.
While we maintain that you’d be far better off in an Astra hatch for the same cash, the fact is that the Mokka is really quite sweet to drive.
That hybrid three-cylinder engine revs smoothly and has a pleasant growl when you accelerate (sort of like a 1990s Subaru Impreza off in the distance). The steering is a little too light for true driver engagement, but the Mokka feels generally enthusiastic to drive, with a well-controlled ride quality and a faint sense of eagerness in corners. No, it’s not a hot hatch in disguise, and again the Astra is more refined and has better overall deportment, but certainly by the (rather low) standards of the small SUV class, the Mokka is absolutely fine to drive.
The 2025 updates barely move the needle, however, so if you can live without the new paint colours or the ChatGPT software (and you definitely can) then you’d be just as well off bagging a bargain on an outgoing Mokka that your local Vauxhall dealer is keen to shift off their forecourt.
Or, better yet, see sense and buy an Astra.
Related articles
- If you were interested in our review of the updated Vauxhall Mokka, you may like to read our review of the updated Vauxhall Corsa Electric
- Also check out our first drive review of the electric Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer
- And did you know Vauxhall is planning a £22,000 city EV?
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