Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

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.

Toyota & Lexus open eBay Stores for parts and accessories

Toyota & Lexus open eBay Stores for parts and accessories Toyota has taken both the Toyota and Lexus brand in to the world’s biggest marketplace – eBay – with new Lexus and Toyota stores designed to supply genuine parts and accessories to a wider audience. Toyota say that the new eBay Stores are designed to complement the existing dealer network supply of parts and accessories, and the prices charged will be the same as a dealer. What the eBay stores will do, however, is offer parts and accessories for older Toyota and Lexus cars – up to eight years old – which Toyota say will reach a wider audience than their dealers manage.

Lexus NX Compact SUV: OFFICIAL

The Lexus NX (pictured) revealed in standard and F Sport guise Last weekend Lexus teased the production version of their new compact SUV – the Lexus NX – ahead of its debut, and this morning we get the official reveal and details of specification and powertrains. Aimed at compact SUVs like the BMW X3 and Audi Q5, the production version of the Lexus NX may have been toned down somewhat from the LF-NX Concept, but it’s still a bold design and keeps a degree of the angularity of the concept; it’ll stand out in the sector – no bad thing. As you’d expect, the big, bold Lexus grill makes its presence felt, with slim LED headlights, big wheelarches, statement alloys (17″ or 18″), sculpted bonnet, sharp creases on the flanks and a back end that’s as angular as the front.