Vauxhall Mokka Review

Despite sharing its name with its predecessor, the Vauxhall Mokka is a totally different offering to the old Mokka X. The previous car’s frumpy styling has been swapped for a clean-sheet design that really stands out. It’s a Vauxhall that you can call stylish! Unfortunately, Vauxhall also threw out the old car’s practicality, and the Mokka feels smaller inside than most rivals.

Even after you’ve digested the styling, the Mokka offers plenty to like if you can put up with its compactness. Its engine range is fantastic, with eager turbo petrol engines and a refined fully electric offering that’ll slash your bills if you can charge at home. The interior looks vastly more modern than Vauxhall’s other small SUV, the Crossland, and comes well-equipped. And, to top it all off, the Mokka is excellent value – especially as a used buy. You can get a nearly new Mokka for thousands of pounds less than a factory-fresh one.

The Mokka desperately needs unique selling points like this, because there are so many other small SUVs that you might choose instead. We could spend all day listing the Mokka’s rivals, but you’re better off just reading our guide to the best small SUVs currently on sale.

When it was facelifted at the turn of 2025, the British brand clearly decided that the car's styling could basically stay as-is. Tweaked bumpers and newly segmented daytime running lights are about the extent of the exterior changes, besides new wheels for the electric Mokka and the introduction of the Tropical Green paint shown in our pictures. Interior changes were a little more thorough, as we'll explore.

First impressions are good – the Mokka boasts a sleek, edgy dashboard that looks more dramatic than what you get in the Ford Puma, Nissan Juke and SEAT Arona. Since the Mokka was updated, every version comes with a  full-size digital instrument cluster and a large touchscreen, which look very impressive and futuristic. Previously, lower-spec cars made do with a pair of small screens here that aren’t so convincing.

The touchscreen runs a new version of Vauxhall's infotainment system, with a focus on improved user-friendliness. But, at the same time, the row of buttons you used to get in front of the gear lever have been taken out and you'll need to go through the screen to digitally turn the functions off.

You might also notice some cost-cutting with the materials and switchgear – the quality is varied, with a lot of flimsy plastics dotted around. The air con dials are taken directly from a car with two-zone climate control – a feature the Mokka doesn’t have. A new, more modern-looking steering wheel is a faint silver lining.

The cheap feeling continues in the rear seats, where all trace of nice materials is lost and anyone sitting back there is greeted by a hard, scratchy wall of plastic on the door card. But that’ll probably be low down on the list of gripes your passengers will have…

…because they may already have bashed their head on the door frame as they got in, and they might feel claustrophobic in the back of the Mokka. If you’re around average height, you’ll find your head very close to the roof and your legs very close to the seat in front. The small windows and dark headliner make it feel even more hemmed in.

Opening the boot reveals a merely ‘okay’ amount of space, too. It looks like there’s barely any more boot space than the Corsa has, despite there being 50 more litres on paper – the Mokka’s 350-litre space is among the smallest of its many rivals. The electric Mokka is worse still at 310 litres. It’s worth noting that the Mokka is physically smaller than most rivals, so perhaps that’s not surprising.

Further forward, the Mokka’s French underpinnings – it uses the same platform as the Citroen C4 and Peugeot 2008 – mean you only get a half-width glovebox, as the fusebox isn’t moved over for right-hand-drive cars. The door bins will hold a large water bottle, even if the cupholders won’t, and there’s a tray for your phone under the main centre console.

Excluding a rare few diesel Mokkas registered in 2021 and 2022, your choice of powertrains is either petrol or electric. And that’s no bad thing at all. The 1.2-litre petrol engine is familiar from a whole host of cars, including the Corsa and 2008, and it’s a fizzy little thing that feels raring to go.

The petrol engines bring the sort of motorway competence that you’d get from a bigger engine, and the fuel economy of a fairly modern diesel. We particularly like the 130hp version, which offers lively acceleration and makes the Mokka feel as sporty as it looks.

Vauxhall will tell you it sells the Mokka as a hybrid, too. Take this with a pinch of salt – while the addition of 48-volt mild-hybrid tech to the petrol engine is welcome, you'll only notice the electric bit at walking pace. Despite this, somehow the official fuel economy figure for the hybrid is noticeably higher than the standard petrol engine.

The electric Mokka is smooth and easy – just point and squirt, with no gear changes to worry about. It’s been deliberately tuned to feel a bit like a petrol engine, so it doesn’t quite have the shove-you-in-your-seat rapidness of many EVs, but it’ll be a seamless transition to electric power if you’re used to petrol cars.

That was exclusively the case until the Mokka GSe came along. The standard motor has been chucked out in favour of a brawny 280hp motor and, to make that power somewhat usable, the GSe also gets a limited-slip differential, massive anti-roll bars, new throttle mapping, much bigger brakes and stiffer springs. You'll just have to pay a lot more for the privilege, and accept that you're not going to get near the quoted range figure when driving spiritedly.

With willing powertrains up front and the dashboard cocooned around you, even the standard Mokka feels quite sporty before you get going. The steering is well weighted and adds to the athleticism, but any notions that this is anything like a hot hatch are expelled when you get up to speed. You’ll notice the slightly raised driving position when the Mokka rolls and leans through corners – the Corsa stays much flatter through fast bends.

It’s the opposite story with the ride and comfort, which is better at high speeds. You feel some vibrations through the seats at town speeds. In truth, you’ll probably get used to it pretty quickly, and the main thing is that sharp impacts like potholes are dealt with nicely enough.