Vauxhall Ampera price cut by £3,500

The Vauxhall Ampera (pictured) drops in price by £3500 Although we still feel the range-extender is the right way for car makers to go to get the car buying public to accept EVs, the range-extender Vauxhall Ampera has not exactly been a runaway success. Despite Vauxhall offering potential Ampera buyers the option of trying it for 30 days and handing it back if they don’t like it, the Ampera has failed miserably to sell in any sort of volume. So, with new competition on the way from the range-extender BMW i3, Vauxhall are taking drastic action to try and tempt buyers in to the Ampera and are slashing prices by £3,500.

Fast cars, fast rise for Miami dealer

The top-selling Audi dealer in the United States is 23 years old--and he has been running the business since he was 19. His name is Brett David, a wunderkind who took over Prestige Imports of Miami in 2007 after a tragedy. David inherited the business when his father and automotive mentor, Irv David, died unexpectedly of a fourth heart attack at age 56.

News watch Jan 2010: today’s auto industry news

Wednesday 20 January 2010• Rolls-Royce has appointed Torsten Mueller as chief exec from the end of March 2010. He is currently BMW's global product management boss and will replace Tom Purves who will retire after 25 years with the BMW Group (Rolls-Royce)• Japan has bowed to pressure and extended its scrappage scheme to include American brand vehicles. Many had been barred from the scheme because they had different fuel economy standards (Automotive News, subscription required)• New GM Europe CEO Nick Reilly has vowed that Opel and Vauxhall will become a global company.