Chevrolet Equinox A/v Equipment Control Panel, Am-fm-xm-cd-mp3 (opt Uye), W/o on 2040-parts.com

GM gets behind Vauxhall & Opel by dropping Chevrolet in Europe

Cars like the Chevrolet Trax (pictured) will disappear from the UK in 2015 GM has seemed to be fighting a battle with itself in the UK and Europe by marketing a broadly similar range of cars under the Vauxhall and Opel badges in the UK and Opel and Chevrolet in Europe. But unlike the VW Group, which manages to offer very similar cars from VW, SEAT and Skoda and create a different customer base, GM seems to have failed to make the marketplace work with Opel and Vauxhall competing with Chevrolet. So Chevrolet are on their way out in Europe.

News watch July 2011: today's auto industry news

Welcome to CAR Magazine's news aggregator as we round up the daily stories in the auto industry. Top tip: car news summaries are added from the top hour-by-hour Friday 29 July• The BBC and Sky have a agreed a TV deal for F1, which will see the Beeb only broadcast half of all Grand Prix races from the 2012 season (BBC) • Aston Martin Racing will revert to its older, V12-powered DBR1-2 LMP1 racer for the remainder of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) while the new straight six-powered AMR-One 'continues to undergo review' (Aston Martin Racing)• Dr Heinz-Jakob Neußer is to take charge of drivetrain development at VW from Volkswagen 1 October 1 2011. His predecessor Dr Jens Hadler is leaving at his own request, and Dr Rüdiger Szengel is to become deputy head of VW's drivetrain development and retain his role as head of petrol engine development (Volkswagen) Thursday 28 July• Porsche today dug the first soil at its €150m extension of the Weissach R&D base.

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.