Vauxhall Mokka review

We’d stop short of calling the original Vauxhall Mokka a game-changer, but there’s no doubt that it helped to change the face of the car industry.

The Mokka's elevated driving position and competitive price gave buyers on a more modest budget the chance to experience the social cachet that comes with owning a high-riding SUV. However, as with One Direction and Saturday night TV, the fact that something's popular doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good.

So it was with the first-generation Mokka. A drab interior and poor ride meant it finished towards the bottom in our group tests time and time again. The fact that it remained consistently in the UK’s top 10 sellers list was more down to heavy discounts and attractive finance offers than the allure of the package itself. 

Thankfully, the second-generation version has all the ingredients needed for it to be a vastly better all-rounder. It features styling inspired by Vauxhall’s striking GT X Experimental Concept car, but under the skin it is closely related to the impressive Peugeot 2008 so it offers a range of modern petrol and diesel engines. There’s also an all-electric version – which we have reviewed separately – called the Mokka-e. 

As for the interior, it is a much more digitised place than in other Vauxhall models. The sleek Pure Panel dashboard is made up of two screens and is designed to reduce the need for multiple buttons and controls, with the aim of improving your ability to concentrate on the road. It’s a layout that’s very much on-trend in the car world right now, but it doesn’t always work very well in practice.

So, whether you own an original Mokka already or are thinking about buying one for the first time, there’s plenty to discuss – not least how it stacks up against an army of talented small SUV rivals.

The keen-handling Ford Puma, the spacious Skoda Kamiq and the comfort-orientated Volkswagen T-Roc are just a few of the challengers it is pitched against.

Should the Vauxhall Mokka be at the top of your shortlist? That’s what this review will tell you. Before you decide, though, don't forget that you can save a bundle of cash on hundreds of new cars, without having to lift a finger, simply by checking out the free What Car? New Car Deals buying service, where you'll find some great new Vauxhall deals.