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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.

Nissan slashes 370Z price and adds hot Nismo model for 2013

Nissan has given the 370Z a shot in the arm for its fourth year on sale, cutting the price of the entry-level model by £3,005, and adding a new range-topper: the upgraded 370Z Nismo. So just how cheap is a new 370Z now? You can get a base-spec coupe for £26,995, which comes with the facelifted front end (new bumper and LED running lights) plus new 18in alloys.

Volkswagen builds 30 millionth Golf (2013)

VW has built its 30 millionth Golf. The milestone car, a Mk7 TDI Bluemotion model, rolled off the Wolfsburg production line today (14 June 2013) and will be displayed at the factory’s open day to celebrate. On average, 2000 Golfs have been sold worldwide every day since its 1974, according to VW’s maths. Over the past 39 years there have been seven generations of Golf, from the Giugiaro-styled original right up to today’s range, which offers 227bhp in GTI Performance form, or 88mpg in the case of the Bluemotion.