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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.

Having a baby in our Jaguar S-type

Those of us that are fathers or expectant fathers, and also like driving must have occasionally daydreamed about what would happen if their wife suddenly went into labour at home and things progress rather more quickly than the oh-so-reassuring leaflets the NHS give out. Resulting in a truly heroic drive to the hospital, arriving, against all odds, just before the baby is born – to the admiration of all concerned. Including Plod, who naturally failed to keep up with you as you went through traffic lights, right angle bends and narrow country lanes at the speed of light….

Mercedes-Benz S 600 V12 revealed at Detroit Motor Show

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is unofficially known as the best car in the world… and the firm has now revealed the model that could make that title official – the new V12-engined long-wheelbase S 600 range-topper. Boasting a 530hp 6.0-litre biturbo V12, the new S 600 can accelerate from 0-62mph in just 4.6 seconds… but, thanks to ECO stop/start, it can also average over 25mpg, a 21% improvement on the old car. Just as importantly, it also promises an unparalleled luxury car experience.