2009-2013 Yamaha Zuma 125 Swingarm Support Bracket on 2040-parts.com

Paris motor show (2012) A-Z news and reviews

This year's Paris motor show kicks off on 27 September, with world debuts for some of the most important cars around, including the new Mk7 VW Golf, Range Rover, and McLaren P1 supercar. We've rounded up all of the cars on one page to provide shortcuts to our full stories. Come back for more news from the Mondial de l'automobile 2012 in Paris.

Ellesmere Port's bid to build Ampera hits snags

By Rob Golding Motor Industry 09 October 2009 15:02 Prime minister Gordon Brown’s personal crusade to get Vauxhall's version of the Chevrolet Volt petrol-electric plug-in hybrid – the Ampera – built in Britain's Ellesmere Port factory in 2012 is a dream delayed, CAR can disclose today.News that the UK Astra plant is the best in Europe, that the Astra's Delta platform will underpin the Ampera, and that Volt will be on US sale from 2010 had been taken to mean that Vauxhall would be churning out the cars in the north west within three years.But the prospect of an electric car industry growing up around the run-down Merseyside manufacturing site is not imminent, CAR has learned.'No Ampera to be built in Europe before 2015'Vauxhall insiders have made it clear that the car to be known as the Vauxhall/Opel Ampera in Europe will be an import from the US for at least five years. One senior planner told us: 'The US will be the sole source of Amperas until at least 2015.'Bob Lutz, GM's former product supremo who recently came out of retirement as a PR, said that the low value of the dollar made the US an ideal site for the manufacturing of export cars. And with forecast sticker prices of the range-extender electric car standing at a scary £35,000+, every price saving is vital to its marketability.The European market also needs time to get its electricity recharge infrastructure in place before it is worth making cars onshore in volume, GM high-ups point out.

Audi A5 Sportback preview (w/ Video)

Audi has revealed a teaser image and sketch of the forthcoming A5 Sportback, which is scheduled to make its debut at the Frankfurt motor show in September. Though the core design of the production car is similar to the Sportback show car unveiled at the NAIAS in Detroit at the start of this year, it will be smaller in size. Coined a 'five-door coupe' by the Ignolstadt-based automaker, the Sportback features a spoiler lip and a diffuser insert integrated into its elongated rear end.