Vauxhall‘s foray into the supermini sector needs to be good. The Adam, which has already received plenty of attention due to its absurd name, is up against a host of excellent rivals including the trailblazing Mini, the Fiat 500 and the Audi A1.
Fleet appeal will be limited due to its three-door only iteration and should make up about one-fifth of overall sales, but the carmaker expects it to appeal to user choosers and businesses wanting to enhance their brand, likening the idea to estate agents Foxtons and its ubiquitously branded Mini fleet. This is thanks to the Adam’s huge range of personalised options including 12 body colours – with names such as ‘I’ll be Black’, ‘Purple Fiction’ and ‘James Blonde’ – three roof colours and 20 wheel designs.
There are no diesel engines; you can choose between a 70hp 1.2-litre and a 1.4-litre petrol unit with 87hp or 100hp. The top-selling fleet version will be the 87hp 1.4 in mid-trim Glam, which emits 129g/km, equating to a 16% benefit-in-kind banding, or pay an extra £295 for stop/start, which will drop emissions to 119g/km and BIK to 14%. Meanwhile, a turbo-charged 1.0-litre petrol engine due by 2014 and expected to bring emissions below 100g/km, will make the car more appealing to fleets and the masses.
The ridiculous names continue with three trim levels: Jam, Glam and Slam. Sounding akin to a preserve, a beauty salon and a basketball film, Vauxhall reckons these names reflect “fashionable/ colourful, elegant/sophisticated, and racy/sporty” respectively.
On the road, the Adam is satisfactory, but fails to excel in any area. The steering is light and lacks driver feedback or precision, although Vauxhall says this is being tweaked for the UK. The ride is fairly comfortable, but handling and performance won’t suit many places other than cities, which is, of course, where this car is headed. Cabin quality is good, although its four-seater status is a stretch – it’s best suited to two adults and two children – and boot space is small.
Vauxhall has sometimes fallen short in recent years against rival Ford while premium marques are gaining ground, and the Adam does little to change that with whole-life costs. At 36.2 pence per mile, it is more expensive than similar Audi A1 and Fiat 500 models, only beating the Mini One’s 37.0ppm (see ‘Rivals’ below). The P11D price differences between the models isn’t huge, with the Adam 1.4 87hp Glam costing £12,920, although this mid-range trim has better spec than the Audi or Mini. The Adam, however, loses out with 129g/km CO2 – hardly competitive for a supermini – and poorer RVs, with 34.8% versus the A1’s high of 45.1%.
There’s no doubt the Adam will appeal to a fashionable few who like the idea of making a car their own, but for most business buyers, it isn’t good enough to stand up to its competitors.
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