Opel Ampera to be no more

What's new?
General Motors is expected to discontinue the Opel Ampera due to slow sales when its sister car the Chevrolet Volt gets a facelift in 2016 according to anonymous sources familiar with the company's plans.

Despite critical acclaim (the Ampera and Volt won the 2012 European Car of the Year award), sales have failed to take off. By 2013 sales had dropped 40 per cent to 3,184 cars with further decline this year; up to the end of May only 332 cars have found homes. In Germany over the first half of the year Ferrari sold almost twice as many F12s as Opel sold Amperas; that's 83 F12s compared with 46 Amperas. The demise of the Ampera was hinted at by General Motors director Steve Girsky. Speaking in 2013 at the Geneva Motor Show, when he was GM Vice Chairman, Girsky said: "All the governments in Europe said, 'We want EVs, we want EVs. We show up with one, and where is everybody?"

Any official word?
Speaking on Twitter recently Opel supremo, Karl-Neumann Thomas, said the Ampera's demise does not mean the end of the brand's interest in electric vehicles. "We see eMobility as an important part of the mobility of tomorrow and we will continue to drive down costs and deliver affordability. Our next electric vehicle will be part of our massive product offensive - with 27 new vehicles in the 2014-2018 timeframe. After the eventual run-out of the current generation Ampera, we'll introduce a successor product in the electric vehicle segment."