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Weather creates travel misery

BRITAIN’S bleak midwinter continued today with strong winds, floods and fallen trees causing chaos to travellers trying to get away for Christmas. On the roads, many major routes were flooded or blocked by fallen trees, with Kent, Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Cornwall among the affected counties. In Dorset fire crews had to rescue 25 people trapped in their cars by flood water, while as many as 100,000 homes across the country were left without power.

BMW i3 starts at $42,275

The electric BMW i3 mini crossover will cost $42,275, including destination, when it debuts to the press on July 29. The company is hosting three simultaneous launch events in London, New York and Beijing. The production version of the car was first seen at the Frankfurt motor show in March.

Vauxhall: Ellesmere Port plant saved – 700 new jobs created

Vauxhall Ellesmere Port - Saved General Motors is to keep Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port open, move to three shift working and create 700 new jobs. The overcapacity of mainstream car manufacture in Europe as the market becomes ever more polarised between premium and budget cars – squeezing the middle – means car maker having to rationalise their output. Many thought that could mean the end of Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port as GM sought to stem its European losses (around £2 billion in the last three years), especially as it is easier to close plants and lay off workers in the UK than in mainland Europe.