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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.

Mercedes SLS AMG: David Coulthard drives the Isle of Man +video

The Mercedes SLS AMG attacks the Isle of Man in the capable hands of DC UK readers and those outside the UK who play silly games to get their hands on the world’s second favourite motoring show – Fifth Gear – may well have seen Tiff Needell pop off to the Isle of Man to borrow a Mercedes SLS AMG David Coulthard was playing with. What David was doing in the Manx Mountains was driving the SLS AMG as fast as he could on the Isle of Man’s unrestricted roads (which were also shut for his convenience) to produce what the film makers are calling ‘The Fastest 3D film ever shot on Land”. The short film – ‘Manx Meister’ – has DC blatting across the top of the IOM at speeds in excess of 160mph.

Lexus RC F Sport to debut at Geneva Motor Show

Lexus has announced that they'll be unveiling the 2015 RC 350 F Sport at next month's Geneva Motor Show, with the model meant to be positioned between the base RC 350 Coupe and the performance-oriented RC F. The automaker is promising that the RC F Sport will offer enhanced driving dynamics as well as exclusive exterior styling cues which will set it apart from the base version of the car. However, they're not making promises about the performance of its 450-hp performance of its 450-hp RC F sibling, which will be positioned at the top of the range.