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New (2014) BMW M3 and M4: OFFICIAL

The new BMW M3 (pictured) debuts along with its coupe sibling, the BMW M4 (below) We’ve had teases from BMW for the new M3 and M4 but now, ahead of a public debut at the Detroit Auto Show next month, we get the official details. Key to the four-door M3 and 2-door M4 is the new 3.0 litre engine, a new turbo, direct injection in-line six petrol which produces 425bhp and a very healthy 405lb/ft of torque from just 1850 rpm. That sort of grunt is enough to get the M3 and M4 to 62mph in 4.3 seconds with the standard six-speed manual, but opt for the seven-speed DCT ‘box and it’s even quicker – just 4.1 seconds.

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.

Volkswagen Microbus production could resume in Brazil

The Volkswagen Type 2 Kombi/Microbus may be a classic to our eyes, but it has been in continuous production in Brazil for almost 50 years. Impending legislation that would outlaw the production and importation of cars and trucks without modern safety features such as ABS brakes and airbags was set to put an end to the Kombi production in Brazil, but one lawmaker wants to make an exception for the veteran vehicle, Indian Autos Blog reports. Brazil's finance minister Guido Mantega is arguing that since the Kombi/Microbus has been in production for decades -- before ABS technology and airbags were developed -- it would be unfair to apply the new law to the vehicle.