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Opel adds Sports Tourer Wagon to Insignia ecoFlex line
2010 Opel Insignia Sports Tourer ecoFlex - click above for high res image Over in Europe, Opel has expanded it's Insignia ecoFlex line with a Sports Tourer model. That would be a station wagon in American English. Whatever you call it, this handsome machine gets the same range of optimizations as other ecoFlex models, including some aerodynamic tweaks, taller final drive ratio and low rolling resistance 17" Michelin tires. All of that helps to extract the most from the 2.0-liter CDTi turbodiesel four cylinder engine. In this application, ... Read more →
Contrary to reports, second generation Chevy Volt is already under development Sam Abuelsamid
Chevrolet Volt Integration prototype - click above for high res image gallery When automakers are getting a new vehicle ready for production, the main specifications are generally locked down ...
Vauxhall employees to miss out on building Ampera ER-EV Sam Abuelsamid
Opel Ampera - Click above for a high-res gallery When General Motors unveiled the Opel Ampera at the Geneva Motor Show last March, employees at Vauxhall got their hopes raised that they would ...
Will be missed: outgoing Opel Astra Eco4 got 52 mpg (U.S.) Xavier Navarro
Now that the current version of the Astra is going to be replaced, perhaps it's time to remember the previous generation. This model didn't make it to the States but was quite popular in Europe. Back ...
2010 Opel Astra revealed ahead of Frankfurt debut Xavier Navarro
2010 Vauxhall Astra - Click above for a high-res image gallery Yesterday, the internet got an unexpected early sneak-peak of the new 2010 Opel/Vauxhall Astra. Now that the cat's out of the bag, GM ...
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Royal College of Art students imagine mobility in 2050, see vehicles powered by waterfalls 2 months ago on AutoblogGreen
Opel Flow - click above for a high res gallery The UK's Royal College of Art has a history of looking at clean transportation possibilities. Last year, RCA students designed a series of sustainable automobile concepts and a real-life Toyota iQ was on display there last fall. Furthering the ...
GM trying to sell Opel, but will keep Ampera (the Opel Volt) 2 months ago on AutoblogGreen
Opel Ampera - Click to enlarge With all the confusion and fast-moving news coming from GM troubles (Saturn hybrids? Say what?), there is one thing you can count on: GM is keeping the Volt. Of course they're keeping the Chevy Volt - that was never in question - but things were just a tiny bit ...
Rumormill: Vauxhall going after city car market with Trixx EV? 2 months ago on AutoblogGreen
Way back in 2004, GM's European arm put a toe in the water of the rapidly expanding city car market with its Opel Trixx concept. A few years later, though, GM's Carl-Peter Forster indicated that the automaker would not be entering that microcar market after all. Fast forward another couple of years ...
Vauxhall launches Insignia ecoFlex with 45.5 mpg (U.S.), 136 g/km CO2 2 months ago on AutoblogGreen
Vauxhall Insignia ecoFlex - click above for a high res gallery Vauxhall has introduced the ecoFlex version of the Insignia sedan in the UK powered by a 160 hp 2.0-liter turbodiesel four cylinder. The ecoFlex model is based on the 2.0 CDTi with a variety of aerodynamic improvements that help ...
The real world of EV operation may double Vauxhall Ampera emissions 3 months ago on AutoblogGreen
Click above for a high-res gallery of the Opel Ampera The big problem with hybrid vehicles with plug-in capability is that the real world mileage and emissions are highly dependent both on duty cycle and the ability to actually plug in. The Vauxhall Ampera (aka the European Chevy Volt) is ...
Opel Astra Caravan CNG hybrid with GPS-enabled smart powertrain 3 months ago on AutoblogGreen
After two years of research, Opel and the Institute for Combustion Engines and Motor Vehicles at the University of Stuttgart have developed a CNG-hybrid version of the Opel Astra Caravan. The car uses an all-new 1-liter 3-cylinder turbocharged engine that manages to produce 97hp and 160 Nm of ...
Opel/Vauxhall adds ecoFlex Zafira MPV with 44.4 mpg (U.S.), 139 g/km CO2 3 months ago on AutoblogGreen
GM Europe has added a low emissions ecoFlex model to its compact Zafira MPV lineup that will allow buyers in many countries, including the UK, to pay lower registration fees. The new Zafira ecoFlex is powered by a new 1.7-liter turbodiesel engine that was recently introduced in the Astra ecoFlex. ...
Fiat keeps the low-CO2 crown for second year in a row 4 months ago on AutoblogGreen
Last year, Jato Consulting found that Fiat lineup of cars was the lowest CO2-producing line in Europe. Fiat bosses must be smiling, because the same has been found for this model year. Fiat's cars produce an average of 137.3 g/km. This places Fiat ahead of all these guys Peugeot (138.1 g/km) ...
Geneva 2009: Opel goes Voltec, Ampera coming in late 2011 4 months ago on AutoblogGreen
Click above for a high-res gallery of the Opel Ampera concept General Motors Europe boss Carl-Peter Forster began this morning's press conference in Geneva with an acknowledgment of the dire financial straights that the entire industry is experiencing right now. Forster also candidly admitted ...
Geneva 2009: Ampera comes branded with Opel and Vauxhaull badges 4 months ago on AutoblogGreen
Click above for image gallery of the Vauxhall Ampera Holden. Chevy. Opel. Vauxhall. These are the brands that we so far know will get a version of the plug-in Volt. Granted, the Europeans will call it the Ampera, but under all those models will be the Voltec technology that gives the sedan a ...
Opel Ampera caught undisguised in Germany 4 months ago on AutoblogGreen
Sources suggest that General Motors is readying the Opel Ampera for an expected debut at the Geneva Motor Show next month. The Ampera will be the first production vehicle in Europe using the Voltec powertrain that should make its first appearance in the Chevy Volt in 2010. We got an early sneak peek ...
Leaked sketches reveal entire Opel Ampera look thanks to OAMI 4 months ago on AutoblogGreen
Click above for a gallery of the Opel Ampera We got our first teaser look at the production version of the European Chevy Volt, aka the Opel Ampera, in late January. Now, thanks to the regulatory database run by the Office for Harmonization of the Internal Market (OHIM), the official European ...
Rendered speculation: 2011 Opel/Vauxhall Astra 5 months ago on AutoblogGreen
AutoExpress has produced a couple of renderings of what the next-generation Astra will look like for Opel and Vauxhall. The new compact lineup is set to debut this September at the Frankfurt Motor Show before going on sale in Europe early next year. Unfortunately, it's looking increasingly likely ...
Geneva Preview: Google translate says Chevy Volt = Opel Ampera 5 months ago on AutoblogGreen
click to enlarge the Ampera teaser When we get to Geneva for the big show in early March, Opel will have the production of its first Voltec technology car ready to debut. The Ampera, as it will be called, is essentially an Opel-branded version of the Chevy Volt. Judging from the teaser that GM ...
Leakage: The new Opel/Vauxhall Astra 6 months ago on AutoblogGreen
Leaks of new designs come from all over, and the source of this image is quite odd. It has appeared on a user forum of a Brazilian car magazine but shows the new generation of the Astra that GM Europe is getting ready. Now that its main competitors - VW with the Golf (Rabbit) and Renault with the ...
Prize time: Opel Flextreme wins red dot design award 7 months ago on AutoblogGreen
The Red Dot design award is one of Europe's most prestigious industry awards. Created under the aegis of the Design Zentrum North Rhine Westphalia, Germany, it has been awarded to the European cousin of the Chevy Volt, the Opel Flextreme (possibly aka the Vauxhall Electra in the UK). The prize was ...
SolarWorld offers to purchase Opel, kind of 7 months ago on AutoblogGreen
Well, it's not exactly a solar car, but it's a start, right? By now, everyone is aware that General Motors is in a bit of financial trouble at the moment, and those U.S. problems will definitely have an impact on the European automakers also owned by GM, including its Opel subsidiary. A German power ...
Opel Zafira 1.6 CNG Turbo: Full details on the first Turbo-charged CNG minivan 7 months ago on AutoblogGreen
Click on image to get full-size pics of the Opel Zafira ecoFLEX Turbo CNG minivan Do you need to haul kids in a zippy van and you don't want it in diesel? Here's a good option for Europeans: the Opel Zafira 1.6 CNG Turbo. We heard not long ago that the Zafira minivan would get the turbo option - ...
GM's E-Flex vehicle to be called Electra in the UK? 8 months ago on AutoblogGreen
Here in the U.S. market, the name Electra was used on big Buick sedans for more than four decades but it hasn't appeared in a new car showroom since 1990. It looks like the Electra could be be making a comeback soon, but not in America. It turns out that Vauxhall, the brand that GM uses to sell ...
Paris 2008: Debut of the Opel Insignia EcoFlex 9 months ago on AutoblogGreen
Opel Insignia ecoFlex Opel has added a special low fuel consumption ecoFlex model to the expanding mid-size Insignia lineup. The new Insignia that debuted this summer is the replacement for the mid-sized Vectra and the first product off GM's Epsilon II platform. The newest addition to the family ...
Opel Insignia to get ecoFLEX mods, will debut in Paris 9 months ago on AutoblogGreen
Click above for a high-res gallery of the Opel Insignia. Just as Volkswagen does with its BlueMotion label, Opel offers a unique model on each of its nameplates with the ecoFLEX moniker attached. As you might imagine, this badge signifies that the vehicle it is affixed to is the greenest variant ...
Fuel-sipping diesel European minivans - is one right for you? 10 months ago on AutoblogGreen
It's back to school season and, since buses aren't available everywhere, for some people it's time to drive the kids to their classes. With all those important soccer football matches games, swimming lessons and family escapes on long weekends, you need a vehicle with enough seats for your children ...
Frankfurt 09 Preview: Opel releases teasers of the new Astra 10 months ago on AutoblogGreen
click for a high res gallery of the teasers We're still a month away from the Paris Motor Show which alternates every other year with the Frankfurt Motor Show. Nonetheless, GM has released some teaser images of the next-generation Astra which won't appear until Frankfurt in 2009. We've been seeing ...
Vauxhall launches the Astra ecoFlex 10 months ago on AutoblogGreen
Click for high-resolution pictures of the Astra ecoFlex GM's brand in the United Kingdom, Vauxhall, has launched the Astra Ecoflex version. As with the array of green signatures created by all European automakers (see: Bluemotion, Ecomotive, Eco2, Airdream...), the Vaxuhall Ecoflex takes a standard ...
Spy Shots: New Opel Meriva caught in the wild 10 months ago on AutoblogGreen
The next-generation Opel Meriva has been caught testing on somewhere on public roads. The Meriva is a tall wagon based on GM's European B-car platform which also underpins the Corsa. The new Meriva was displayed in concept form at this year's Geneva Motor Show and the production version doesn't ...
Bob Lutz: 30K E-Flex cars in Europe in first year, 1M worldwide by 2020 11 months ago on AutoblogGreen
Now that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pledged some £90 million for the development of clean vehicles in the U.K., General Motors is seeing plenty to like about the European market for its E-Flex vehicles. The automaker has already reversed its stance on building the electric cars ...
Vauxhall's Ellesmere Port plant could get Volt production in Europe 11 months ago on AutoblogGreen
Click above for a high-res gallery of the Opel Flextreme Despite Carl-Peter Forster's recent assertion that Euro Volts would be built in America and shipped overseas, GM's European leader is now claiming that Europe may get its own plant. This change of heart could have something to do with Gordon ...
Euro-bound Volt clones will be built in U.S. 12 months ago on AutoblogGreen
Click above for a high-res gallery of the Opel Flextreme The internal debate over whether the upcoming Volt will be badged as a Chevrolet or an Opel across the pond has been decided. The first Euro-bound EV's from the General will be Opels, though we are not sure how much in common the vehicle will ...
Opel not planning any new small cars, focuses on Flextreme instead 1 year ago on AutoblogGreen
Click above for a high-res gallery of the Opel Flextreme A while back, there were rumblings from Opel that the European brand from GM was considering entering the micro car segment currently occupied by vehicles like the smart fortwo and the upcoming Toyota iQ. That rumored vehicle was to be ...
Will Saturn bring the Agila mini-car to the US? 1 year ago on AutoblogGreen
Since Saturn has essentially become the U.S. arm of Opel, and all the new models (aside from the Outlook crossover) are essentially re-badged Opels, the big question is, "what next?" With sales of larger trucks and SUVs in complete collapse and carmakers scrambling to shift production to smaller ...
Chevy or Opel? What to do with Volt outside North America 1 year ago on AutoblogGreen
When GM launched Chevy Volt concept last year, officials explained why they badged the car as a Chevrolet. The Volt was intended to be a mass market car that would be affordably priced and widely available. Chevrolet is a global brand for GM and the company wanted to make it clear that the E-Flex ...
