Opel Ampera: the full, official technical story

By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 25 March 2009 10:05 Opel/Vauxhall predict that the new Ampera production car will sell more in Britain than anywhere else in Europe. The extended range electric vehicle, unveiled at the recent 2009 Geneva motor show, will go on sale here in late 2011 and marketing bosses say the UK is more accepting of hybrids and alternative vehicles than other markets. It’s not clear at this stage how much the Ampera will cost in the UK, but we’re looking at a likely cost around £20,000.

New Jeep Grand Cherokee facelift to get European debut at Geneva

The new Jeep Grand Cherokee will arrive at the Geneva Motor Show in EU guise in March ahead of a launch in the UK and Europe in the third quarter 2013. In all the ways that matter, the Jeep Grand Cherokee (which will be a 2014 model by the time it arrives in showrooms in the UK) for Europe is the same as that for North America, although it will have different engines, and just about all the shortcomings of the current Grand Cherokee have been addressed by the facelift. That means the cheap in places interior gets a good makeover to make the Grand Cherokee a more convincing place to be for European tastes, and the Atari-like Infotainment centre gets a proper makeover too to make it more 21st, and less 20th, century.

Toyota, BMW to cooperate on sports car

Toyota Motor Corp. and BMW are tightening technical ties with plans to jointly develop a sports car platform, lithium-air batteries and new lightweight materials. The automakers also aim to jointly develop a fuel cell system for vehicles by 2020.