GM offers Gordon Brown deal on green cars

By Andrew English, Motoring Correspondent
Last Updated: 10:50pm BST 22/07/2008

General Motors offered Prime Minister Gordon Brown a deal - support our green cars in Europe and we'll build them in the UK.
The US giant, which owns Vauxhall, is seeking a sponsor to gain extra credits against stiff new European fuel consumption targets.

It wants the British Government to support its plan for a "super credit" in return for a commitment to build its new Flexstream Hybrid at Vauxhall's Ellesmere Port factory, which employs 2,200 staff building Astra cars and vans.
"It's a matter of give and take," said General Motors Europe President Carl-Peter Forster. "If the Government supports our idea for super credits, we would consider putting the Flexstream into Ellesmere Port."
The Prime Minister was visiting the opening day of the London International Motor Show when he met Mr Forster, other motor industry bosses and representatives from the Electricity Generating Companies for a 45-minute meeting on environmental technologies and electric cars.
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Mr Forster showed Mr Brown over the Flexstream project, a hybrid vehicle that uses a main rechargeable lithium-ion battery with a small biofuel motor to charge the battery.
It is sighted for launch in the US in 2010 and Europe in 2011 at a price of about £33,000.
"He asked how many we could build by 2011/2012," said Mr Forster, "I said about 30,000 in Europe, with up to 10pc of our fleet (about 220,000 vehicles) two years after that. He was clearly not satisfied with this, it was not enough, and he was looking for more."