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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.

Pebble Beach Concours: Best in Show goes to 1934 Voisin C-25 Aerodyne

Peter Mullin, who has about the most beautiful collection of pieces from the art deco movement in the world, now has one more item to add to his collection, the trophy that goes to the Best in Show at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. His 1934 Voisin C-25 Aerodyne took the prize on Sunday. Mullin has 15 Voisins in his collection, in addition to numerous Bugattis, Talbot Lagos and Delahayes.

2015 Audi A3 sedan configurator goes live

The 2015 Audi A3 sedan will be appearing in dealerships in a few months, and the trim and pricing details have been announced for the U.S. market. The engines on offer on this side of the pond are a 1.8-liter turbocharged four-cylinder making 170-hp and 200 lb-ft of torque, and a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder coupled with Quattro all-wheel drive, making 200-hp an 258 lb-ft of torque.