Bonanza! Vauxhall cuts price of its Ampera electric car by 10% sparking hopes for a 'green car' sales surge

While ‘green car’ technology has come on dramatically in recent years, the public appetite for hybrid and electric cars has yet to take off.
Potential customers are wary of the technology and are put off by fears that they will be stranded miles from home during a long journey.
The high price of  the vehicles has also been a deterrent. With the launch in Frankfurt last week of BMW’s i3 electric car with a price tag of just under £26,000, Vauxhall has responded by cutting the price of its Ampera by 10 per cent to just over £28,000.

Cutting edge: Vauxhall's Ampera

‘We felt the time was right to try to make it more affordable to more people. It’s as simple as that,’ said Duncan Aldred.
‘Sales of electric or related cars is about 30 per cent of what anyone expected it to be across Europe, so that whole segment has been well below forecast. Ampera is a critical and effective part of our range, but we will also introduce a new series of engines that will drive down emissions and we believe that’s the way we will grow our business in the future.’
Even before the price  cut, the Ampera ‘was never going to be a project that made a massive amount of money – cutting-edge technology rarely does – but you have to make progress and  have it associated with  your brands'.
‘I don’t believe that the future will be electric,’ he adds. ‘There’ll be more hybrids and hydrogen [fuel-cell technology] will come into play, but the combustion engine will remain the primary driver for everyday motorists and there’s a lot to go  with it yet.
‘For example, the small gasoline engine [SGE], which we’re putting out next year, is powerful  but produces low emissions. It is going to  be a leap forward.’

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