Star Ev Enclosure (48-8sf) on 2040-parts.com

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.

Ford Focus ST (2011) first news and photos

The Ford hot hatch is back! The new Focus family will sire a – range-topping, for now – ST performance variant, to be unveiled at the 2010 Paris motor show. There's still a bit of a wait on, however; the mainstays of the new Focus range go on sale in March 2011, while the new Focus ST won't arrive until late 2011 or 2012.So how fast is the new 2011 Ford Focus ST?Sounds like it should be pretty rapid.

Land Rover Discovery 4 Landmark Limited Edition

Land Rover Discovery 4 Landmark - The Black & White Disco It’s the time of year that car makers make an extra effort to sell some metal. Cars don’t exactly walk away from showrooms of their own accord at the start of the year – not until the new plate kicks in in March – so an extra incentive or three is in order to get punters to write a cheque. Depsite a cracking year for Land Rover they’re not resting on their laurels, and have churned out a Limited Edition Discovery – Land Rover Discovery 4 SDV6 Landmark - to tempt buyers to treat themselves to the best 4×4 when the winter weather kicks in properly.