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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.

Jaguar slashes prices – in Australia

Jaguar has slashed prices across its range in Australia – by as much as £40,000 – as it fights for a bigger market share. But there’s also a feeling that all those years of protectionist import tariffs have inured Australians to the high price of luxury cars, and that car makers take advantage of that by keeping prices high, regardless of the level of taxes imposed on their products. That means something like a Rolls Royce Phantom costs £650k and a Porsche 911 starts at £150k.

Hot Mitsubishi sports car bound for UK

By Chris Chilton Motor Industry 01 September 2006 11:06 Mitsubishi is investigating the feasibility of bringing its 350Z-rivalling Eclipse to the UK. Accountants are busy with the calculators right now but sources reckon it’s looking increasingly likely that both the 2+2 coupe and convertible will be in UK showrooms by early next year. A 2.4-litre 162bhp four backed by a five-speed gearbox kicks off the range, supplemented by a 263bhp 3.8-litre V6.