Vauxhall has announced that it is set to expand its GSE performance range with a new electric hot hatch – the Corsa GSE. 

We don’t actually know anything about the car apart from its name and a chaste glimpse of a disguised alloy wheel with a bright yellow brake caliper that looks suspiciously like it’ll be bad for regen. But at least it's not a diesel car, which Vauxhall had to deny it was shifting back to last week. 

Vauxhall promises the new car will be a “high performance, top of the range version of Britain’s bestselling small car”, that will apparently take some lessons from the rallying version of its Mokka GSE sibling. 

Time for a quick history lesson then. The GSE performance sub-brand was launched in 2023, the badge getting glued on to a series of plug-in hybrids like the Astra hatch and estate models and the Grandland SUV. 

The electric Mokka GSE was launched in 2025, the perky crossover taking over from a rallying version of the Corsa to form the backbone of the GSE Electric Rally Cup in 2026, a single-make electric rally championship that takes place at six locations around Europe. 

The fast Mokka has the same 51kWh battery as the rest of the range, which doesn’t necessarily bode well for the Corsa – the GSE badge knocks 51 miles of range off the standard Mokka’s WLTP figure to go 201 miles on a full battery, though you can increase that by a few (eight) miles by choosing the optional eco tyres for an extra £100. 

The road going Mokka GSE does however get a limited slip differential, upgraded steering rack and a ride height drop to help it along, and the perky electric motor is good for a 0–62mph of 5.9 seconds. Which isn’t really that quick in the grand scheme of electric things, but it’s the quickest EV that Vauxhall’s ever made. 

We’ll hear more about the Corsa GSE in a month or three when full details and some proper pics are set to be revealed – Vauxhall says the car will be available to order before the end of the year, which means that deliveries will likely happen early in 2027. Something to look forward to. 

Will it look like the Corsa GSE concept we saw last summer? Probably not, but we can live in hope. Check out Nicola's video of the concept below.