Chevrolet Volt, Vauxhall/Opel Ampera Named 2012 European Car Of The Year
On the back of last year’s win for the Nissan Leaf, the Chevrolet Volt and Vauxhall/Opel Ampera has won the 2012 European Car of the Year award, beating out the Citroen DS5, Fiat Panda, Ford Focus, Range Rover Evoque, Toyota Yaris and the Volkswagen Up!
The Volt/Ampera beat out the Volkswagen Up!, with the Focus ranking third. Two jurors from England’s CAR magazine explained their voting patterns (you can read them here and here). Juror Georg Kacher, who voted for the Evoque in first place, summarized his drawbacks for Volt/Ampera twins, stating that it was prevented from getting his first place vote because
it commands a steep asking price, is no performance champ, and consumes too much fuel once the initial battery charge has been used up
I haven’t driven the Up!, but the Evoque and Focus are both fine cars in my opinion and could have easily taken the title. The Volt and Ampera will both be sold in Europe under different dealer channels and branding (Chevrolet being more downmarket and selling rebadged Daewoos relative to Vauxhall/Opel’s slightly more upscale positioning) and seeing the sales breakdown between the two will be a fun exercise once the two are on sale across the continent.
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Arrgghhhh! That face on the Ampera! Just how far ARE the auto manufacturers going to push this "aggressive front end" styling? I expect some of the 2014 cars will have blood dripping fangs in their grilles.
I have asked this before so I guess the B&B do not know the answer but ...... How many of the Volt/Amperas in inventory are RHD? The UK will need them, we in Oz are waiting for them. Japan, India etc will want them. They are all made in U.S. plants right? No overseas manufacture? www.holden.com.au/Volt
I think its really sad that GM decided to make an already ugly car even more ugly by changing the only part of the Volt that looked good. The front. But what would I know? I am just a dumbarse car nut from the other side of the world. What would I know about the marketing and styling and the advanced technology this car proudly displays? Probably nothing, but i do know that this car is not selling and unless someone does something intellegent the Volt will become one of the all time GM disasters
Is the Volt et al a better value proposition in Europe because of gasoline prices and driving conditions? Does the EU offer any subsidies to help with the price ?