Vauxhall Offers The Chance To Win A New Vauxhall Ampera

The motto says it all: "Green Drivers Wanted!" Vauxhall is looking for Europe's greenest driver as part of its ecoFLEX Experience, a unique competition where entrants can show off their fuel-efficient, environmentally friendly driving skills.

Kicking off on 1st April 2010, Vauxhall will be looking for UK drivers to take part in a pan-European competition which it is jointly running with sister company, Opel. The contest will set out to find the driver who can squeeze the most mileage from one of Vauxhall/Opel's ecoFLEX models. But first, entrants will need to prove their eco-mettle in an on-line quiz, before proving their virtual driving and fuel-saving skills on an internet simulator.

The very best 'driver' from the UK along with 19 other participating European countries will then be invited to a multi-day event at the Sturup Raceway in Malmo, Sweden this summer. Here, contestants will receive professional tuition in a range of ecoFLEX models and the greenest driver overall will be named the "ecoFLEX Experience Champion".

And the prize? The winner will be awarded one of the very first Vauxhall Ampera production cars, which will hit the UK Market at the start of 2012.

Vauxhall Named Fleet Manufacturer of The Year

The coveted title - Fleet Manufacturer of the Year - has been awarded to Vauxhall at the 2010 Fleet News Awards held on Wednesday 17th March 2010 at London's Grosvenor House Hotel.

Fleet Manufacturer of the Year is not only one of the prestigious Headline Awards at the event, it is also one of the most coveted honours of the night as it is voted for entirely by independent fleet managers across the country.

Maurice Howkins, Fleet Sales Director for Vauxhall said: "We're absolutely delighted to receive this recognition from our customers, especially in such testing times for the industry. We strive to provide our customers not only with a great choice of vehicles, including our award winning ecoFLEX range, but also with the best support network in the industry from our fleet sales and aftersales teams and our retailers."

Commenting, Fleet News editor Stephen Briers said: "Vauxhall's extensive dealer network, the innovative way it maintains its market position and its strong fleet model line-up, which includes the ecoFLEX green range, were behind our readers' decision to vote Vauxhall as their fleet manufacturer of the year."

Every year, the highly influential Fleet News Awards reward the best fleets, suppliers and manufacturers in the country for their hard work, great products and commitment to best practice initiatives that provide efficient, safe and environmentally-friendly transport solutions to drivers.

Vauxhall has been a mainstay of the UK fleet industry for decades, with a strong product line-up including the new Vauxhall Astra, Vauxhall Insignia and Vauxhall Corsa and the award winning ecoFLEX range.

The comprehensive vehicle range is backed up by a large network of retailers - more than 400 - to cope with any company's geographical spread. The network is further bolstered by the Vauxhall Fleet aftersales team, who have helped the Vauxhall Insignia and Vauxhall Zafira become the bestselling cars in their segments.

Vauxhall Ampera may make Merseyside green

Hopes that Britain could become the hub of a global green motoring revolution were boosted yesterday when Vauxhall indicated that its Ellesmere Port plant could become the home of the new electric Ampera.

The Merseyside factory is expected to go to a third shift this year when production begins — months earlier than expected — of the new Vauxhall Astra estate. But the standing of the plant would be greatly enhanced it it does become the European production base of the Ampera, the new extended-range electric vehicle that General Motors, Vauxhall’s American parent, is promoting as a big rival to the Toyota Prius hybrid.

Whereas most electric cars going into production will be suitable only as city runarounds with a range of a few dozen miles, the Ampera will have a range of more than 350 miles on an electric motor fuelled by a lithium-ion battery and petrol or ethanol.

Nick Reilly, chief executive of General Motors Europe, said: “The chances are quite good that the Ampera will come to Ellesmere Port as it is close in production terms to the Astra and will share many components.”

He added that production could start in 2013 and reach 50,000 cars a year. That compares with 191,000 Astras and Astravans built at Ellesmere Port over the past two years, a figure that will grow when production starts on the Astra estate.

The news that the Ampera may come to the UK follows the announcement last week that from 2013 Nissan is to build the Leaf, its new electric car, at Sunderland, where it will also build the batteries. In addition, Ford is to spend £1.5 billion on the research, design and production of cleaner, greener petrol and diesel engines already made at three plants in the UK.

Any commitment by Vauxhall to bring the Ampera to the UK will come with heavy caveats and pleas for further state subsidy. It has already received £270 million of loan guarantees from the Government to increase Astra production.

For the Ampera to come to Britain, “the conditions must be favourable”, Mr Reilly said. “If there is no incentivisation, you would be more likely to go where the incentives might be, like Spain or elsewhere.”

The Government is already committed to make £5,000 available to buyers of electric vehicles in Britain, similar to the £2,000 scrappage scheme to trade in old cars. However, Mr Reilly said that incentives would need to be extended to fleet buyers. He said that there was already interest from government and corporate fleet buyers for 1,000 of the cars at a time but they would have to be encouraged by government subsidy.

He also said that the development of Britain as a green motoring hub would need to be backed up with support encouraging suppliers of parts to manufacture in Britain.

“There will need to be tax incentives and research grants to get suppliers to set up in Britain,” he said.

April 1 Showroom tax

SHOWROOM tax rates of up to £950 will be added onto the retail price of new cars from April 1.

The first-year VED rate comes into force for high CO2 emission cars – and will be a shock to car buyers!

It was announced in the Budget last year but has since been forgotten by those in the market for new cars. The highly publicised scrappage scheme has diverted attention from the emissions-based tax – but is set to hit high-polluters hard.

Here’s a brief fact-finder on the key issues…

What’s it all about?
It is the Government’s way of penalising high-emission cars and encouraging low-emission sales.

£950 for road tax though – what’s that all about?
Cars emitting more than 255g/km will be hit with this first-year rate. This will be added to the delivery charge of the vehicle – and may result in list price rises of around £500 for high-polluters.

So that’s nearly £1k every year for road tax of big-engined cars, then?
No. After the first year VED rate, charges revert to the standard road tax rate. This, for a high-CO2 car, will be £435.

How can I help car buyers to avoid it?
Guide them to a car that emits 130g/km CO2 or less. These cars escape the ‘showroom tax’. Even better, if they emit less than 100g/km, they are charged no road tax fee at all!

Sounds like money will be made by someone here
Well, according to the BBC, changes to vehicle excise duty is forecast to raise £735m for the Government in 2010-11…

Vauxhall Insignia VXR Review

The Vauxhall Insignia was introduced as the replacement for the Vauxhall Vectra and was immediately and justifiably voted European Car of the Year. This is a vast model range that covers most tastes and outlooks from eco-motoring to the load-lugging Sports Tourer. And now we have the Vauxhall Insignia VXR version to add to the list.

The VXR range came in being in 2003, as a sister brand to the Opel OPC and set slightly apart form the mainstream cars. In the early days it was a hint at the very successful VX Racing team, which currently holds three British Touring Car Championship titles. For the rest of us, it started with the Vauxhall Astra VXR, before going on to represent an almost standalone brand with the advent of the VXR220 and the Monaro.

So, now it is the turn of the Vauxhall Insignia and not just the saloon but the hatch and Sports Tourer models as well. Prices start at £32,290 for the hatch and saloon and £33,690 for the estate version. Models with satellite navigation are a little more expensive at £33,125 and £34,525, respectively. The Vauxhall Insignia VXR test car had a couple of the optional extras; lightweight forged 20-inch alloy wheels (£1,000) and the Leather Pack, which includes 8-way, electronic seat adjustment and powered, folding mirrors for £1,300. The remainder of the features list that came with the car tended more towards technology and engineering, than niceties.

I have mentioned that the seats were clad in leather but the sports seats are worthy of note, too. These aren't just any Recaros but have been designed especially for the Vauxhall Insignia VXR. The more customary seat back is replaced by a hard plastic shell, which, despite the cushioning, is firm to say the least. The Vauxhall Insignia VXR already sits lower than the regular model and the driver's rear end is a further 15mm lower in the Recaros. The racing pose makes for increased support for the thighs and extra control during the inevitable exuberant driving. All that is missing is the 5-point harness. However, it is not a case of one size fits all; these High Performance front seats have height adjustment with a range of 65mm and 270mm, fore and aft movement. Furthermore, there are tilt adjustment and lumbar support controls.

Other sporty accessories include the newly-designed VXR steering wheel, a VXR gear knob for the 6-speed manual 'box and unique interior mouldings. The instrument dials have slightly different graphics and the VXR sill plates can be seen whenever the door is opened.

As you would expect from a Performance saloon/hatch/Sports Tourer, the Vauxhall Insignia VXR's interior has an almost Spartan, technical feel to it. This impression is emphasised by the black headlining, which makes the cabin feel so enormous you almost expect to hear an echo.

Vauxhall tells us that the Vauxhall Insignia VXR's exterior design takes its cues from the GTC concept car that was first shown at the Geneva motor show in 2007. So, what we have is a much deeper front bumper than the standard model, with large, leaf-shaped mesh grilles either side of the central grille. The design of this main air intake has been simplified by removing some of the vanes from the lower area leaving just the large signature band and a single slat, both of which are chromed. The eye-like headlight clusters remain the same, as does the large bonnet with its distinctive crease down the middle.

This design line is carried over to the rear of the car where a somewhat reserved spoiler is integrated into the boot or tailgate. Below, a very large bumper houses the two chunky, matt-chromed, exhausts.

For those that need it, there is plenty of space in the Vauxhall Insignia VXR's boot and even more in the estate: 500-litres in the hatch, 530-litres in the saloon and 540-litres in the Sports Tourer. The latter is also said to be the fastest estate that Vauxhall has ever produced and also the first to have Adaptive 4x4 and an electronic limited slip differential.

And now we're getting to the heart of the matter - performance. Under the ample bonnet of every Vauxhall Insignia VXR lies a 2.8 V6 petrol engine, which for a performance saloon etc. doesn't seem that large. However, add in a twin-scroll turbocharger and it produces 325PS at 5,250rpm and 435Nm of torque, peaking at the same engine speed. The swift throttle responses are illustrated in the 0-60mph time of 5.6 seconds with the estate taking just a fraction longer at 5.9 seconds. And all versions have a limited top speed of 155mph.

The Vauxhall Insignia VXR's straight-line speed and acceleration is nothing short of impressive; some might say scary. Bearing in mind that the engine is the same unit found in the V6 Elite Insignia but in the VXR it has been tweaked to produce a 25 per cent increase in power and 9 per cent more torque.

All of this is no good unless the drive gets to the appropriate wheels and those wheels stay on the road. So, the Vauxhall Insignia VXR comes with Adaptive 4x4. It functions in much the same way bas the system in the standard cars but it has been adjusted to cope with the extra performance

The Vauxhall Insignia VXR's Adaptive 4x4 system also features an electronic limited slip diff' as well as an upgraded version of Vauxhall's FlexRide system. Again, this latter is similar to the standard system but adapted to take account of the extra power. There are three main settings: Standard mode is for everyday driving with 'civilised' damping qualities. Sport, stiffens the damping and reduces body roll but pressing the VXR button produces a metaphoric, sharp intake of breath in that the steering becomes more direct and the damping even stiffer, while the throttle reaction becomes swifter still and the backlighting for the instrument dials turns red.

There is more. There are a further two aspects to the VXR button: 'bump' and 'roll'. The former means even more damper stiffening and at the same time makes sure that the wheels immediately make contact with the road after a bump. Roll reduces body roll further still, while Brembo brakes with advertised by colour-keyed callipers and vented, cross-drilled discs can stop the car in a very timely manner. In short, spirited driving is a rewarding and exhilarating experience but you wouldn't want to do it all day.

Another of the Vauxhall Insignia VXR's highlights is the use of so-called HiPerStrut, which is a truncated version of High Performance Strut. This suspension system is used at the front and is designed to reduce torque steer and improve grip during fast cornering.

It is clear that the Vauxhall Insignia VXR isn't for everyone and, if the insurance ratings of 18E and 36E using the 20 and 40 tables, and annual VED, which at the time of writing is £405, doesn't go some way to preventing this mean machine falling into inappropriate or inexperienced hands, then the fuel economy just might. The official figures of 17.0mpg for the urban cycle, just 33.6mpg for the extra-urban and 24.7mpg for the combined, are not quite horrendous but driven as nature and Vauxhall intended, these numbers will be out of reach.

There is no doubting the Vauxhall Insignia VXR's capabilities, which, when explored in the right place and in the right manner, are a massive amount of fun. And, as you would expect from Vauxhall the quality of fit and finish, both inside and out is very good, which is something that is sadly missing from some of the Vauxhall Insignia VXR's more ostentatious competitors.

Vauxhall launches cut-price Models

New models up to £3675 cheaper
Most miss out on equipment
Insignia better equipped


Vauxhall has launched cheaper versions of many of its models.

The new Expression and ES models are up to £3675 less expensive than the previous cheapest version.

The maximum headline saving is with the Zafira Expression, which now costs from £14,995 - a saving of £3675.

Most of the newcomers come with less equipment. You'll have to do without air-conditioning in the Zafira, for instance. The only exception to this is the new ES Insignia, which is £1700 cheaper, but comes with upgraded wheels and MP3-compatible stereo system.

All of the Expression and ES cars are available for a limited period in solid white or red

Vauxhall's new Expression and ES

Model Price from
Corsa Expression £9995
Astra Sport Hatch Expression £13,995
Astra 5dr Expression £13,995
Astra Twin Top Expression £17,995
Zafira Expression £14,995
Insignia ES £17,120

General Motors recalls 1.3m cars in latest safety scare

General Motors has become the latest company forced into a recall after uncovering power steering problems potentially affecting over a million cars, with bosses saying Toyota was partly to blame.


This followed an announcement from the Detroit-based company that it was to triple its investment in Europe to stabilise the business and win support from governments in the region.

GM announced today it needed to fix a motor in the power steering system for 1.3 million Pontiacs and Chevrolets across the Americas.

The group said the fault is related to a part developed by Jtekt, a supply joint backed by Toyota, the group that has been forced to recall millions of vehicles in the past few months.

Jamie Hresko, GM vice president of quality, said the company was working to fix the problem, adding that while the cars were still safe to drive “recalling these vehicles is the right thing to do for our customers' peace of mind.”

“After our in-depth investigation, we found that this is a condition that takes time to develop. It tends to occur in older models out of warranty,” said Mr Hresko.

GM told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSA) about the recall on Monday, after it had finished the investigation started in 2009.

The NHSA launched a probe of its own into 905,000 Cobalt models in the US at the end of January, after more than 1,100 complaints of loss of power steering. The fault had been connected to 14 crashes and one injury.

The cars found to have been affected by the power steering issues include the US comprise the Chevrolet Cobalt sold between 2005 and 2010, and the Pontiac G5 released between 2005 and 2006. In Canada, GM is calling in Pontiac Pursuits sold between 2005 and 2006, and the Pontiac G4s sold in Mexico during the same period.

Some of the drivers found the power steering would fail, but the company added that the vehicle “can still be safely controlled because the customer can still steer the vehicle”.

This marks the latest company to recall its vehicles after Toyota was forced to recall more than eight million vehicles in the US, Europe and China over safety issues.

These issues first focused on problems with drivers finding the accelerator pedal was getting stuck under the floor mats, while others found the risk of a jammed pedal sent the car out of control.

Last month, the group announced it would recall 8,500 Prius models in the UK over what it called an “inconsistent brake feel” while braking on bumpy roads. Ford, Honda, Nissan and Suzuki have also announced recalls.

This comes on the day that GM announced it would up its funding for its Opel business in Germany and Vauxhall in the UK to €1.9bn. Previously the group had hoped European governments would provide €2.7bn in funding support, but as the option looked less likely it agreed to up its investment in return for less than €2bn in loan guarantees.

While the UK, Spain, Poland and Austria, all of which have significant GM manufacturing operations, approved the company’s restructuring plan, Germany dragged its heels.

Nick Reilly, head of Opel and Vauxhall, said the commitment “should signal our determination to fix our business” and was optimistic its new plan would be well met in Europe.

Vauxhall takes it to the FlexTreme

COOL-looking concept the FlextTreme has been hailed as the clearest indication yet of Vauxhall’s intention to be a producer of very stylish but practical cars.

General Motors’ European design chief Mark Adams, speaking at the Geneva Motor Show, said that future Vauxhalls will be cars people will be proud to buy.

The American-owned giant has announced it will triple its investment and has committed 1.9 billion euros for the so-called GM Europe viability plan.

And Adams says he wants to show that electric vehicles do not have to be boring but can, with the technology developed by GM, be both environmentally friendly and enjoyably dynamic.

The FlexTreme can run just on its battery for around 30 miles or, with a small internal combustion engine replenishing the battery, expect a range 10 times as far.




"FlexTreme will never go into production on its own but shows you do not have to use the EV technology in a conventional car but have something sporting," said Adams.


"We have styling elements on FlexTreme which you will see in future Vauxhall and Opel models very soon, such as the new face.


"It gives a glimpse over the horizon of what is coming from GM in terms of design expressions. A stylish car is a compromise and with the Flextreme we wanted to show how practical a design could be as well."


He added: "We are really making an aspirational car which shows electric vehicles aren't just smooth rounded shapes which can be be boring, but can be a car which makes people proud to own and that the company is moving forward."