Vauxhall/Opel parent Stellantis is ramping up for next year’s arrival of a fully electric successor to the Grandland SUV.

The plant currently builds the Grandland GSe PHEV that sits in Vauxhall’s recently launched electrified performance sub-brand

It’s revealed plans to invest more than €130m (£115m) in its Eisenach plant in Germany to add production of the new model, which will be built on the group’s all-new STLA Medium platform, also used for the Peugeot e-3008 arriving later this year.

The Grandland large SUV currently produced at Eisenach is already available as a plug-in hybrid and the all-electric successor will support Vauxhall’s plans to have a fully electric product line-up by 2028.

The investment is seen as a key step to drive the Stellantis Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan, which seeks deep emission cuts to slash CO2 in half by 2030 and achieve carbon net zero by 2038. The company is investing more than €30bn (£26.6bn) through 2025 in electrification and software to deliver BEVs that meet customer demands.

The Eisenach plant in the state of Thuringia was opened in September 1992 with production of the Astra and currently produces the Grandland as well as the top-rung Grandland GSe PHEV that sits in Vauxhall’s recently launched electrified performance sub-brand.

Florian Huettl, Opel-Vauxhall CEO, said: “We have been building top-quality vehicles here in Thuringia for 31 years and improved our competitiveness continuously. We will stay on this clear path with the electric successor to the Grandland. This decision is another important step for Vauxhall on the way to the declared goal of being a purely electric brand by 2028.”

Production of the fully electric Grandland successor will start mid-2024.