Opel-Vauxhall Mokka-e continues to sell out

The Mokka-e model’s production capacities are already exhausted, and Opel-Vauxhall has even had to cancel contracts with customers. The PSA brand says that some variants of the Mokka-e are still sold out, others can still be ordered.

The German trade newspaper Handelsblatt has revealed that production capacity for the entire year 2021 is exhausted, citing “consistent statements” from company and dealer circles in Germany.

Opel unveiled the Mokka Electric in June 2020, which marked the brand’s first model to be available in an all-electric version right from the market launch. Then in December last year in the UK, Opel-Vauxhall was forced to say that Mokka-e won’t reach customers until March 2021. Demand was so high so quickly that some compact and all-electric SUV variants were already sold out way into September next year, particularly in Germany.

The demand for the Mokka-e “went through the roof very quickly,” the German Edison magazine revealed citing an unnamed Opel manager. He added that this had come as a total surprise to the manufacturer meaning that the entire 2021 contingent of the electric car was quickly depleted.

The carmaker is now even forced to cancel contracts already signed with hundreds of customers. In a letter to one Mokka-e customer published by Handelsblatt, the customer was told that their order “had to be cancelled due to this current overbooking”. Opel will not be able to deliver the ordered model this year. Even at a later date, no delivery date is currently foreseeable.

There were already comments under our article on the allegedly sold-out Mokka-e. This information has now been confirmed with the latest developments reported in Handelsblatt. The company from Germany was offering the Mokka-e via leasing platforms at sometimes very low rates.

The official language continues to be that “some variants of the Mokka-e are already sold out” within the current model year until September 2021. However, the company has said that other equipment lines of the Mokka-e are still available for order.

This is also the case for the British market, where a spokesperson confirmed “that we do not currently have any supply issues with the new Vauxhall Mokka-e in the UK,” when speaking to electrive.

In Germany however, Opel will offer affected Mokka-e buyers a “Corsa-e with top equipment at knock-down prices” instead, Handelsblatt reports. Nevertheless, customers are said to be upset, as they neither want to wait an unforeseeable amount of time for their Mokka-e nor switch to another model since they apparently deliberately waited for the small SUV and did not order an already available Corsa-e.

The fact that Opel itself is not happy with their lack of preparation for the unexpected demand is hardly surprising, but it is no consolation for customers. According to company circles quoted by the Handelsblatt, the company is delighted to be offering such a popular model after years of flat sales. The fact that it is now not possible to meet this demand is “bitter” and the cancellations “painful”.

Opel officially opened the order books for the Mokka-e in September. Since then, the small E-SUV could also be pre-ordered, with prices in Germany starting at 32,990 euros before the German Federal government’s environmental bonus. After deducting the environmental bonus of 9,570 euros, the entry-level price of the Mokka-e drops to 23,420 euros.

In the UK, prices for the Vauxhall Mokka-e starts from £30,840 for SE Nav Premium models after the Government Plug-in Car Grant (PiCG). With orders open, deliveries are set to begin in Great Britain in April 2021.

In terms of powertrain, the Mokka-e relies on the familiar e-drive train of the PSA Group’s e-CMP, as used in other models from the e-transporter to other SUV models such as the Peugeot e-2008 and the Corsa-e compact car. The electric motor delivers 100 kW, and the electronically limited top speed is 150 km/h. The Mokka-e electric motor should provide WLTP range of up to 324 kilometres with the 50 kWh battery.

Additional reporting by Nora Manthey, London.

handelsblatt.com (in German)