Vauxhall Grandland Review

The Grandland has an important job to do for Vauxhall. This is the brand’s family-SUV flagship, the car that needs to look modern, carry the latest design language convincingly and prove that Vauxhall can still compete in the thick of the mainstream market rather than merely mop up buyers who happen to find a deal.

On first impressions, it gets a fair bit right. The styling is bold enough to stand out, with the familiar Vizor front-end treatment now made more dramatic by the illuminated lighting signature on higher trims. The rear end is neat and distinctive too, and the whole car has more road presence than the rather anonymous Grandland models that came before it.

It also arrives at a time when family SUVs have become the default answer for an enormous number of buyers. That is both a help and a hindrance. It means there is plenty of demand, but it also means the Grandland lands in a class packed with very good alternatives. There are sensible choices, sporty choices, premium-leaning choices and electrified choices in every direction.

For this review, the focus is purely on the mild-hybrid Grandland. The fully electric version is covered separately in our Vauxhall Grandland Electric review.

That leaves us with a car whose job is to make the mainstream family-SUV argument as convincingly as possible. The Grandland broadly succeeds, but more through competence and practicality than brilliance.

The current Grandland mild-hybrid range is refreshingly simple because every version uses the same 1.2-litre Hybrid 145PS e-DCT6 powertrain.

That means the real choice is trim. For most buyers, the best Vauxhall Grandland is the GS. It adds the visual and equipment upgrades that make the car feel more distinctive than the entry-level Design, but it still stops short of the extra cost of the Ultimate.

Design already comes with plenty, so it is not a weak starting point. But GS is where the Grandland starts to look and feel more complete, helped by the extra lighting signature, upgraded headlights, heated front seats and steering wheel, reversing camera and the larger 16-inch central touchscreen.

Ultimate is the luxury-flavoured one, and if you specifically want a head-up display, panoramic roof and power tailgate it will appeal. For most private buyers, though, GS is the sweet spot.

In simple terms, Design is the value one, GS is the sweet spot and Ultimate is the plush one.

The Vauxhall Grandland Hybrid 145PS starts at £36,105 in Design trim. The GS rises to £37,805, while the Ultimate tops the range at £39,705.

That puts the Grandland right into the thick of mainstream family-SUV money. It is not obviously cheaper than key rivals, and once you start brushing up against £40,000 it becomes harder to argue that value alone is the reason to buy it.

The good news is that Vauxhall has at least made the equipment story reasonably strong, which helps justify the figures. The bad news is that some very accomplished alternatives sit in the same pricing window.

The Volkswagen Tiguan is one of the Grandland’s clearest rivals because it feels broader in its talents and more polished on the road. It also has a bigger and more flexible boot, with up to 652 litres available depending on rear-seat position, so it makes a very strong practicality case.

The Cupra Terramar is another key alternative if you want something that feels more design led and a little more premium in flavour. It is not as obviously practical as the biggest SUVs in the class, but in petrol and mild-hybrid forms it still offers between 540 and 642 litres of boot space depending on rear-seat position, so it remains a very plausible family option.

The Skoda Karoq remains one of the most sensible choices in this part of the market. It is easy to live with, roomy enough for family duties and offers 521 litres of boot space, which means it only gives away a little to the Grandland while often feeling more cleverly packaged overall.

Beyond those three, the Kia Sportage, Hyundai Tucson and Nissan Qashqai all deserve a look. The Grandland makes most sense if you want a family SUV with lots of space and a clean, modern look, even if some rivals feel more polished in the details.

Practicality is one of the Grandland’s strongest cards. There is loads of room up front, and the rear seats offer enough legroom and headroom to keep a pair of gangly adults comfortable without complaint.

That makes the Grandland feel genuinely family friendly rather than merely crossover shaped. There is enough room in the back for child seats and taller passengers alike, and the wide rear bench means three across the back is at least possible for shorter trips.

The boot is another plus point. At 550 litres, it is large even by the standards of this class, and that puts it ahead of a Skoda Karoq’s 521 litres. It also means the Grandland stacks up well against many versions of the Cupra Terramar, which offers between 540 and 642 litres in petrol and mild-hybrid form depending on rear-seat position, but drops to 400 to 490 litres in plug-in hybrid form. A Volkswagen Tiguan still has the stronger outright claim, though, with up to 652 litres available when its rear seats are slid fully forward.

That leaves the Grandland in a strong middle ground. It is usefully roomier than plenty of family SUVs, even if the Tiguan still offers more maximum carrying capacity and the Karoq remains one of the cleverest all-round packaging jobs in the class.

The false floor adds useful flexibility, and the 40:20:40 split-folding rear seats are more versatile than the usual 60:40 arrangement. Fold them down and you get a broad, useful load area that makes the Grandland easy to load for family trips, pushchairs or bulky shopping.

The Vauxhall Grandland measures 4,650mm long, 1,905mm wide & 1,665mm high.

That makes it a substantial family SUV, and you do feel that from behind the wheel. It has genuine road presence and a proper sense of interior space, yet it is not so big that it becomes intimidating.

Parking sensors are therefore especially welcome, and all versions get them front and rear as standard.

The infotainment story depends on trim. Design gets a 10-inch central touchscreen, while GS and Ultimate use a larger 16-inch display and add connected navigation.

All versions get a 10-inch digital driver display, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and at least one USB-C port. GS and Ultimate add more USB-C ports, while Ultimate also upgrades the sound system.

The bigger 16-inch screen certainly looks impressive, but the interface is not quite as immediately intuitive as some rivals’. There is a lot going on visually, and some of the icons are not especially clear at first glance. It is usable, but it takes some learning.

At a glance, the Grandland’s cabin looks modern and interesting. The mix of fabrics, shapes and layered surfaces is enough to make it feel contemporary.

Touch more of it, though, and the impression softens. There are a lot of hard, shiny plastics in evidence, and while everything feels solidly assembled enough, it does not feel especially rich.

That means the Grandland is likely to wear family life well, but it also means some rivals feel more expensive inside.

All current mild-hybrid Grandland models use the same 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol engine paired with a small electric motor and six-speed electrified dual-clutch automatic gearbox. Total output is 145PS.

Performance is adequate rather than brisk. Vauxhall quotes 0-62mph in 10.2 seconds and a top speed of 126mph.

That is enough to keep pace with family life and motorway duties, but it does not make the Grandland feel especially eager.

The Grandland’s soft-focus family-SUV brief suggests comfort should be one of its strengths. In practice, it is only average here.

There is a persistent firmness to the way the car moves down the road, and even on surfaces that do not look especially broken it can fidget and tremble more than you might expect. Bigger bumps also register quite clearly.

Handling is similarly competent rather than inspiring. The steering is very light, body lean is noticeable and the car does not particularly encourage you to enjoy a twisting road. That is not unusual in a family SUV, but some rivals strike a better balance between comfort and control.

Refinement is mixed as well. At low speeds, if you are gentle enough, the mild-hybrid system can let the Grandland creep about quietly on electric power for short bursts. Once the petrol engine is asked to do real work, though, it becomes much more vocal. The gearbox is also too keen to kick down, which sends the revs soaring and refinement dropping away.

The latest Vauxhall Grandland has now been tested by Euro NCAP and earned a four-star safety rating in 2025.

That is respectable rather than outstanding, and the detail suggests the car’s driver-assistance and occupant-detection systems are not class leaders.

The standard safety kit list is still generous, though. All versions get adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assistance, high-beam assist, traffic-sign recognition and eight airbags. Ultimate also adds the more advanced Intelli-Drive 2.0 assistance package.

Vauxhall quotes up to 51.4mpg for the Design and GS versions, with the Ultimate dipping slightly to 50.4mpg.

Those are competitive enough figures for a family SUV of this size, but they are not quite startling, and the car’s sometimes noisy and busy powertrain does not always feel as if it is delivering economy in the smoothest possible way.

Still, on paper at least, the Grandland does enough to keep fuel bills within reasonable bounds for this class.

Vauxhall’s new-car warranty runs for three years from first registration, with unlimited mileage in year one and a 60,000-mile cap in years two and three.

Servicing follows Vauxhall’s broader service-plan pattern. The current guidance points to Interim and Main services on a 24-month cycle, with Major services every 48 months.

The current Vauxhall Grandland Hybrid sits in insurance groups 23 to 25, depending on trim. That is fairly typical for a family SUV of this size and performance, although the Grandland may cost a little more to cover than some petrol-powered alternatives. As ever, the actual premium will depend on the driver, location and annual mileage as well as the chosen trim.

The Vauxhall Grandland Hybrid now pays the standard annual VED rate after year one, which is £200.

The current mild-hybrid Grandland range stays below the £40,000 threshold, so there is no Expensive Car Supplement to worry about in standard trim.