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2015 Vauxhall Astra means new UK jobs

Vauxhall has announced that it will take on 300 new staff at its Ellesmere Port plant, ready for production of the new Astra in 2015. It follows the plant’s successful bid to build the 2015 Astra, which secured investment of £125 million for the UK factory in 2012. 20 reasons why Britain’s car industry is booming Read a Vauxhall new car review Meanwhile, in 2011, Vauxhall’s Luton plant received a £185 million investment to build the new Vivaro van – and now the Bedfordshire base is planning to create a further 250 jobs.

Planning continues for driverless cars

OFFICIALS in California have been looking to the future as they bid to legislate for the arrival of hi-tech driver-less cars. A law passed in 2012 set a deadline of the end of this year for the state's Department of Motor Vehicles to decide how to legally integrate the so-called autonomous vehicles - which were once the stuff of science fiction but could be commercially available by the end of the decade. The latest talks on the matter among roads officials focused on how the vehicles will record actions so the data can be used to reconstruct an accident in an effort to trace the cause.

Ford Focus ST facelift (2007): first official pictures

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 09 November 2007 11:45 Facelifted Ford Focus ST: the first pictures Yesterday Ford announced the run-out ST500 special edition of the old Focus, today it's shown the new one.We saw the revised Focus at this autumn's Frankfurt Motor Show, but Ford only teased us with humdrum models. Now the Blue Oval has released the first details of the new ST, with a refreshed look to emphasise its sporty position at the top of the Focus tree.So there's a new bumper, much shallower grille and more rectangular, swept-back headlamps at the front, giving a more techincal look. The rear has been refreshed, too, but the changes are less noticeable.