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Ampera grabs green award

VAUXHALL'S Ampera extended range electric vehicle has been honoured as Green Vehicle of the Year by fleet decision-makers at the prestigious 2012 Association of Car Fleet Operators (ACFO) Awards. The awards, which are voted for online exclusively by the ACFO membership, are highly-prized because unlike many other awards they reflect the day-to-day operational experience and expertise of fleet decision-makers. This prize is the latest in a long line of over 40 top gongs for the ground-breaking Ampera, which include the current European Car of the Year, What Car?

New Skoda Octavia vRS hatch & estate revealed

The 2013 Skoda Octavia vRS has been revealed (vRS hatch pictured) The Skoda Octavia vRS – the latest version of Skoda’s quick and appealing take on the VW Golf GTI – has been unveiled ahead of its debut at the Goodwood FoS in July, and it looks a cracker. Available as either a hatchback or estate – and as a diesel or a petrol – the Octavia vRS manages to repackage the Golf GTI and Golf GTD in to one Skoda, offering good performance (the vRS is a bit slower than the GTI to 62mph at 6.8 seconds but has a 2mph higher top speed), good looks and the promise of prices starting not much above £20k. The petrol vRS gets the Golf GTI’s 217bhp 2.0 litre TSI and the diesel vRS the 181bhp 2.0 litre TFI from the Golf GTD, both with a 6-speed manual gearbox as standard and a six-speed DSG as option, sports suspension, XDS differential, quicker steering and multi-link rear suspension.

On this clear day, you can see Fritz Henderson’s General Motors

Fritz Henderson and the guy he replaced at the top of General Motors, Rick Wagoner, both speak Portuguese. But that may be where the similarities end when it comes to the words spoken by the former CEO and his newly elevated successor. In his first news conference as the head of GM, Henderson made it abundantly clear that he understands the forces that put him where he is and what they expect from him.