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Frankfurt 2011: New Vauxhall Astra GTC (2012) debut

Vauxhall Astra GTC finally arrives at Frankfurt The Vauxhall Astra GTC (and its European equivalent Opel GTC) finally gets to go on public view at Frankfurt this week, a year after it arrived as a concept at Paris. Based on the more prosaic five-door Astra, the GTC carries over just about nothing except the door handles although it still conspires to look like a slightly squashed, butch version of its sibling. The Astra GTC is a decent looking effort from Vauxhall – as is the regular Astra – designed to take the fight to cars like the Scirroco.

New Maserati Kubang SUV (2012) arrives at Frankfurt

New Maserati Kubang We’ve been predicting the arrival of a Maserati SUV for some time, but the recent launch of the new Jeep Grand Cherokee made it almost certain. And today the new Maserati Kubang arrives at Frankfurt, to the consternation of all Maserati fan boys. But whatever the fans of the marque may say, an SUV from Maserati is a very clever move.

Best Western Hotels rolling out EV charging points in the UK

We’re electric car sceptics – or at least sceptical about their ability to replace the ICE car as our principal form of personal transport – although EVs do have their place as runarounds in urban areas, where their limited range isn’t really a factor. But taking your EV off for a weekend jaunt does pose logistical problems when the average range is probably no more than 80 miles, and something worth making the effort for a weekend away is almost always going to be further away than that. But a bit of smart marketing by Best Western Hotels – a group of 270 or so independently run hotels round the UK – means EV drivers will soon be able to plot their weekend away on the basis of Best Western Hotels en route, with Best Western planning on fitting EV charging points in their car parks, with half their hotels having free charging points by September.