Vauxhall Manta delayed by slow EV uptake: retro nameplate’s return on ice

Vauxhall and sister brand Opel have pushed back development of the car that was to bring the return for the famous Manta nameplate. Originally mooted for a reveal late this year, any return of the Vauxhall Manta is now at least three years away, if it comes at all. Slowing demand for EVs has given the brand cause for hesitation. 

Opel chief executive Florian Heuttl confirmed that the only cars currently at the development stage - which means engineers working on the car, rather than it still being in the design studio - are the revised Vauxhall Astra, which is expected next year, and the new Corsa. That would mean the new Opel/Vauxhall Manta, if it ever gets the nod, wouldn’t arrive before 2028. 

“Like a couple of other things Opel has done in the past, Manta is a highly emotional nameplate,” he said. “In the current situation with electric uptake we need to evaluate certain choices.” 

Although a retro EV coupe bearing the Manta name was developed by Vauxhall for a one-off ‘Elektromod’  plug-in hybrid, the production return for the Manta was set to be a sporty family SUV to sit alongside the Grandland, in a similar way that the Ford Capri is a sportier-looking version of the Explorer. 

Heuttl declined to kill the product off completely. He just confirmed that it is not in the engineering stage yet, which means the project hasn’t got the green light for development, although we know it was on the drawing board. 

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The decision also means a rumoured resurrection of the Insignia, first mooted almost two years ago, is also off the agenda for the foreseeable future. 

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