Vauxhall’s first foray into the electric car market reached an important milestone last Friday (April 23nd), when the first of its Ampera models rolled off the pre-production line.

It means the car manufacturer is on course to bring the eco-friendly vehicle, which can travel 40 miles purely on battery power, to the European market by 2012.

"We’re right on target for producing the Ampera for European markets later next year," said Andrew Farah, vehicle chief engineer for Ampera. "There’s still work to be done, but being able to drive an Ampera off our pre-production line is a great accomplishment for the teams here and in Europe."

In the coming months, more pre-production vehicles will undergo testing before the final, fine-tuned version goes into production.

ACEA, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, revealed in its latest annual tax guide that an increasing number of European Union member states are now offering incentives to owners and buyers of electric vehicles.

Two London entrepreneurs are claiming to have launched the world’s first neighbour-to-neighbour car rental service, reports the Telegraph.

Under the scheme, drivers who don’t own a car but occasionally require one can hire their neighbours’ vehicles for a fee.

WhipCar offers a website for motorists to register their cars for hire, and those on the lookout to hire one can search their area for availability and make a booking.

Fees range from £7 an hour to for a Vauxhall Astra to around £53 a day for a BMW 320i, and it all helps to tackle the problem of thousands of cars sitting unused, the news provider said.

"For the first time, anywhere in the world, would-be drivers can get rental access to the car next door, literally."Vinay Gupta, founder of the venture, told the Telegraph.

All hire prices include the cost of insurance, which will cover the driver for the duration of the hire period.

Renault and Electronic Arts have announced a deal that will see the car manufacturer’s electric vehicles appear in a computer game.

The Sims is one of the most popular games in the world, and under the multi-year agreement, players will be able to download Renault’s Twizy Z.E. Concept car to play around with in the virtual world of The Sims 3.

Perks within the game, which sees players take control of a simulated person, known as a Sim, include positive repercussions for a player’s in-game family as their virtual household bills will fall.

"Electric vehicles are additionally going to appeal to younger, more socially conscious prospects and especially early adopters. This is the heartland of The Sims community", said Stephen Norman, senior vice president of global marketing for the Renault Group.

The French manufacturers recorded the largest market share gain in total car, van and fleet sector sales in March this year.

Vauxhall has confirmed plans to unveil two new vehicles at next month’s Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland.

The event, which begins on March 2nd, will see the unveiling of the Meriva compact MPV and a new, futuristic compact car.

Duncan Aldred, Vauxhall’s managing director, said the manufacturer is "covering all bases at Geneva", with the Corsa ecoFLEX and the Ampera extended range also set be on show.

"With the Meriva we have a unique and innovative take on family motoring, but the concept car and Ampera prove that we are truly at the forefront of environmental technology," he commented.

"These vehicles also show that their versatility and efficiency doesn’t come at the expense of stunning design."

The Meriva features rear-hinged back doors and a new range of cabin features that are expected to boost its interior’s versatility.

Vauxhall recently confirmed that it will offer £3,000 off new Astras, Astra Sport Hatches and most new Corsas in exchange for a roadworthy car that is a minimum of seven years old.

The offer comes on the back of the government’s scapprage scheme, which is currently drawing to a close.

A variety of Vauxhall car parts help to ensure that the Corsa is the most versatile vehicle in the manufacturer’s range.

This is according to the Sunday Times’ Jason Dawe, who believes that the Corsa is equally at home as a first car, a family car or a retirement car.

"The Corsa is a pretty good drive, with decent ride comfort and great visibility, factors that make it popular with driving instructors," he wrote.

Mr Dawe went on to note that today’s third generation Corsa has come a long way since the car was introduced in 1993. It is now much larger, at four metres long and 1.74 metres wide.

However, the Corsa "isn’t always reliable" and can experience certain faults, such as heater-fan problems, defective windscreen-wiper stalks and issues with the automatic transmission, he added.

Other owners have complained of failure of the handbrake lever mounting points on the floor.

The Corsa is manufactured at Figueruelas in Spain at the same factory that produced the Vauxhall Meriva.

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Vauxhall might be worth a look this winter for anyone interested in the carmaker’s "dramatic efficiency drive".

Upon launching its new range of Corsas, the company outlined some of the factors making certain models much more eco-friendly than ever before.

Describing the vehicles’ engines as "ultra economical", all bar one delivers more than 50 mpg when used with manual transmission.

The diesel ecoFLEX Corsa, meanwhile, can reach 76.3 mpg on its combined cycle.

However, the manufacturer maintained that emissions and the cost of running the car are not the only benefits for drivers who hit showrooms this season to buy one of them.

Various features, such as cruise control and air-conditioning, have been added as standard to some motors in the range, so those into gadgets and gizmos might do well to check out what is available.

Earlier this month, Vauxhall outlined some of the ways people can avoid getting stressed on the roads this Christmas.

Ideas included fitting a roof box to make more space inside the car.

A new face is set to assume the operations role for Vauxhall.

Nick Reilly is already General Motors (GM) executive vice-president and president.

Fritz Henderson, GM’s president, said: "With his deep experience with the Opel and Vauxhall brands, Nick is well suited to lead this transition and to work toward the earliest possible normalisation of the business."

He added that the Vauxhall/Opel brand will continue to be a part of the GM group, which he believes is in the company’s best interests and those too of customers, stakeholders and employees.

Mr Reilly will still be responsible for GM International Operations overall direction in China but some of his other duties there will be passed on.

The first Vauxhall car was built in 1903 meaning that the company celebrated 100 years of being established in 2003, although the Vauxhall iron works was set up in 1857.

For all of your Vauxhall spares, visit 247 Spares.

The chief executive officer at Opel is set to leave the company.

Carl-Peter Forster is currently the president and vice-president of Opel Europe.

Fritz Henderson, General Motors’ (GM) president, said: "The Opel brand has made tremendous progress under Carl-Peter’s tenure and leadership over the past several years.

"We’re confident that the key personnel leading Opel will stay focused on running the business during this time of transition."

He added that the company anticipates it will come to a conclusion about the brand’s future within the next week.

GM was established in 1908 and today employs around 209,000 staff worldwide. Its greatest national client is America, having its headquarters in Detroit.

The company is currently operating a 60-day money back satisfaction guarantee, so you can return a GM vehicle if you are not fully happy with it.

For all of your Vauxhall spares, visit 247 Spares.

One car manufacturer was basking in the glory of winning a trophy this week.

It was the first Golden Steering Wheel award that Vauxhall has received for its Astra model.

Andy Gilson, Vauxhall’s marketing director, said that the news of winning the coveted Auto Bild magazines group prize was a feather in the company’s cap.

He added: "Not only has the new Astra been short-listed for the European Car of the Year, which we won last year with the Insignia, but it’s now taken an important award from an international jury."

More than 40 million magazine readers were represented in the election, which saw Vauxhall’s motor achieve a clear win.

The brand scored highly in a multitude of categories, including fuel consumption, engine, chassis, steering, braking and driver assistance safety systems.

Vauxhall celebrated 100 years of the make in 2003, having produced its first automobile back in 1903.

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Vauxhall has launched a new eco-version of the Corsa.

Some of the specifications on the new greener model will include CO2 emissions of only 98g/km alongside having low petrol consumption of 76.3 mpg.

But the manufacturer claims that the alterations have not had an effect on the drive of the car, with the ecoFLEX boasting a 21 per cent increase in power when compared to the 1.3 CDTi turbodiesel.

The motor will be made available in Life and Club trim, with the price set to be revealed soon. Orders can be taken for the ecoFLEX from January of next year.

A five-door version is claimed to handle like a three door car, achieving 99g/km and comes complete with a Diesel Particulate Filter – responsible for driving down the output of harmful gases.

Vauxhall built its first motor in 1903 and stands today as a manufacturer on an international scale.

For all the Vauxhall parts that you may need, 247 Spares can help out.