Vauxhall displayed the Ampera in Police livery featuring the latest policing equipment on the Home Office’s Centre of Applied Science & Technology (CAST) stand at the Police & Security Conference after it won a competition run by the Association of Chief Police Officers Intelligent Transport Systems (ACPO ITS).
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In fact, the Wall Street Journal reported this week that General Motors is losing its patience with Opel and Vauxhall after their fourth quarter losses and wants to make deeper cuts – and fast. The newspaper cited an unnamed GM source as saying that “if Opel is going to get fixed, it is going to get fixed now and cuts are going to get deep.”
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For the time being though, Vauxhall has launched sales of the New Combo in Britain. The light commercial vehicle is available with a choice of four diesel units ranging from a 1.3-liter CDTi with 89bhp (90PS) to a 2.0-liter CDTi delivering 133bhp (135PS).
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However, as the Wall Street Journal reports, they weren’t prepared for the “horrendous” fourth quarter losses. Therefore, despite declaring last week that it is determined to turn around Opel, GM is now seriously reconsidering its options.
According to the report, an unnamed GM official said on Tuesday that the U.S. group is almost fed up with its European brands’ inability to make progress: “There is an increasing frustration with Opel and a feeling that the cuts two years ago did not go deep enough. If Opel is going to get fixed, it is going to get fixed now and the cuts are going to be deep.”
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The most powerful (regular production) Astra ever is based on the sporty-looking Astra GTC three-door hatch and features a 2.0-litre turbocharged direct injection engine developing 280PS (276hp/206kW) and a maximum torque of 400 Nm (295 lb-ft).
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The Allegra will be Opel's entry in Europe's fast-growing A-segment, though GM Europe's president Nick Reilly has stated that it will compete with the more expensive offerings in its category, which puts it against the Fiat 500 and perhaps even the Mini.
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Volkswagen delivered 484,547 units of the Golf in 2011, down 1.6% over the previous year. The German company also took second spot with the Polo that sold 356,490 cars, up 0.5%, while the Ford Fiesta with 348,465 sales (-13.3%), the Opel / Vauxhall Corsa with 313,325 units (-1.7%) and the Renault Clio with 294,172 (-13.1%) complete the Top 5.
We should note that all Top 10 best-sellers came from either German (7 models) or French (3 models) brands.
JATO Dynamics says that outside the top ten, certain models performed much better than their predecessors did including Peugeot’s new 508, which saw its sales rise almost three times achieved by its predecessor, the 407, in 2010, the new Ford C-Max/Grand C-Max, Citroën C4, BMW X3 and Kia Sportage.
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And for those of you wondering, the European model's name was inspired by the small, round coffee beans of the Coffea Arabica variety.
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And that pretty much explains the 'whys' and 'hows' of this Polish experiment with a three-door Opel Corsa that you can enjoy in the video after the jump.
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However, Akerson did not elaborate on what GM plans to do about the group’s two European brands, Opel/Vauxhal and Chevrolet.
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These pictures show the Vauxhall model but the styling and the performance specifications are common between the two Astra GTC-based hot hatches.
Power is derived from a new 2.0-litre turbocharged direct injection four-cylinder engine capable of 280-horsepower and 400Nm (295 lb-ft) of torque that are channeled to the front wheels via 6-speed manual gearbox and a specially developed mechanical limited slip differential.
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You read that correctly: the LS3 6.2-liter V8-powered VXR8 - essentially a Holden HSV rebadged as a Vauxhall for the UK market- won the two-day, 350-mile economy trial.
How did this happen? There's a simple explanation: this award wasn't given to the most fuel efficient vehicle in absolute numbers, but to the one that recorded the highest percent improvement over the official fuel consumption figures.
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And while we know that the open-top model will be based on the new generation of the Astra compact, what the General didn't say is whether or not it will carry the Astra nameplate.
Up until now, that is, because in an interview with Car Magazine, the European design chief at GM, Mark Adams, said the new convertible will be a separate, standalone model in the likes of the Volkswagen Eos hardtop cabrio.
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The 15-minute long clip comes from an in-board camera mounted to look out the rear window. The driver of the car passed through the construction section moments after the first crash happened, but just before the BMW M3 Sedan 'Ring Taxi came smashing into the cars in front of it.
You'll have to speed up the video to around 9:50 to see the damaged cars and wait until about the clock shows 10:20ish to watch the BMW 'Ring Taxi collide in your upper right-hand corner.
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The faster and more-focused version of the Corsa VXR is powered by a re-worked version of the regular model's 1.6-litre turbocharged engine which now produces 205-horses at 5,750rpm and 250-280Nm (184-207 lb-ft) of torque, up from 192HP and 230-266Nm (170-196 lb-ft).
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The vehicles involved in the crash included a BMW E30 3-Series, a BMW E36 3-Series, a BMW E92 M3, a Chevrolet Corvette Z06, a pair of Vauxhall VX220 / Opel Speedster roadsters, a Porsche 911 (964 series) and the official BMW M3 'Ring Taxi.
According to a police report, the drivers came from several European countries, while the accident apparently took place in two phases.
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