The French duo Bernard Darniche and Joseph Lambert finished first, while the Ampera teams with Charlotte Berton and Olivier Sussot ranked third, Jean-Claude Andruet and Patrick Lienne came in 7th and Hanns Werner Wirth and Daniel Riesen finished 8th.
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All in all, six Ampera sedans will participate in the “Alternative Energy” version of the rally, which starts in Annecy-le-Vieux, Clermont-Ferrand and Lugano on March 22 and finishes three days later in the capital of Monaco, Monte Carlo.
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Coming into second place was the Volkswagen Up! city car with 281 points while the new generation of the Ford Focus finished third with 256 points.
The other cars that made it to the final round of the competition were the Range Rover Evoque (186 points), Fiat Panda (156 points), Citroen DS5 (144 points) and the Toyota Yaris (122 points).
The competition brought together votes from 59 automotive journalists in 23 European countries.
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Vauxhall displayed the Ampera in Police livery featuring the latest policing equipment on the Home Office’s Centre of Applied Science & Technology (CAST) stand at the Police & Security Conference after it won a competition run by the Association of Chief Police Officers Intelligent Transport Systems (ACPO ITS).
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In the first phase of "Initiative 120", the Berlin police will use a total of eleven vehicles that also include two examples of each of these models: the Opel Ampera extended range EV, the Renault Fluence sedan Z.E and Kangoo Van Z.E., and the Mitsubishi i-MiEV hatchback.
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As you can see in the video after the break, Opel started off by producing sewing machines and then went on to build high-wheel bicycles, also known as penny-farthings (from the unevenly sized British penny and farthing coins) before Adam Opel's two sons entered into a partnership with Friedrich Lutzmann to produce the company's first automobiles in 1902.
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However, General Motors, which is currently cooperating with the NHTSA to address the fire issues that ensued after the agency’s crash tests, may even go as far as redesigning its extended-range hybrid’s battery which is manufactured by South Korea's LG Chem.
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In alphabetical order, the five-star winners are: the Audi A6, the BMW X3, the Chevrolet Aveo, the Chevrolet Orlando, the Citroen DS5, the Hyundai i40, the Opel Ampera, the VW Golf Cabriolet and the VW Jetta.
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According to British magazine Autocar, the second generation of the Opel / Vauxhall Ampera is scheduled for release in 2015 and, if sources from within the company are reliable, it feature a more radical design and a lower starting price than the current model.
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Having introduced five new cars in the past 18 months and on the verge of launching a major TV, print and digital campaign this summer to celebrate its centennial anniversary, Chevrolet is trying to become more premium.
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Weber will be in control of EfficientDynamics (the green stuff), driver safety/assistance tech, and "full vehicle concepts and architecture", as well as bringing a whole bunch of electrical wizardry and know-how to BMW's nascent electric future.
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Given that the styling changes over the Chevrolet Volt would be limited to a Buick-specific grille and bumper designs, one of the most significant problems GM faces is how to justify the car and its higher price tag which would be in excess of the Volt’s base MSRP of US$41,000 not including a $7,500 federal tax credit.
The Volt's sister car, the Opel Ampera, will also go on sale this year in Europe, at a slightly higher starting price. Unveiled in final production form at the Geneva Show, the Ampera will cost €42,900 ($59,885), but prices can vary in different countries depending on the standard equipment.
Chevrolet said the Volt would be fully equipped with all the usual safety and convenience features, plus leather seats. As in the US, European buyers will have an 8-year/160,000 km warranty (100,000 miles) on the powertrain and the lithium-ion battery.
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Well before the Ampera hits European showrooms at the end of the year, Opel is already exploring the possibility of a police package for its range-extended electric vehicle. According to the company, the Ampera could be the perfect police car for urban use.
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At the current exchange rates, that comes to around US$59,100, which is significantly higher than the base price of the Volt in the USA that sells for US$41,000 (€29,800) not including a $7,500 federal tax credit.
Opel noted that in Germany, with 19 percent VAT, the Ampera net price is €36,050, adding that, because trim levels may be different in each market, prices in each country may also differ.
General Motors said that the it build more pre-production Amperas in the coming months. The pre-production vehicles will not be sold at dealerships, but used for testing and validating the production intent design as well as developing the final vehicle software and control.
If you find the Opel / Vauxhall Ampera and consequently the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrids a little too plain and boring for your tastes, then you ought to a look at this handsome conceptual proposal from GM's European arm.
The 4.7-meter long Opel Flextreme GT/E concept with its coupe-like proportions and suicide-style rear doors illustrates how GM's extended-range electric vehicle (E-REV) technology can be plugged into a larger size vehicle with a more emotional design DNA.
A sister model to the North American Chevrolet Volt, the road-ready Ampera features a few minor styling tweaks and additions over last year's concept model (see pictures here).
At the front-end of the plug-in hybrid, we find a slightly revised front grille, relocated front turning signals, plain black decorative trim on the bumper and the addition of washers on the bonnet.
At the back, the boot lid spoiler has been extended and features a larger third-stop light, while the reflectors on the corners of the bumper have been pushed outwards and the diffuser on the bumper has been redesigned and incorporates center mounted lights.
"The Flextreme GT/E concept shows the shape of things to come from Opel," says Frank Weber, Vice President, Corporate and Product Planning. "Bold, expressive and highly efficient, it represents the product strategy we will apply to all our future vehicles, large and small, across all market segments."
Described by Opel as a 'five-door coupe', the 4.7-meter (185-in.) long Flextreme GT/E concept that adopts the new Meriva's rear-hinged rear doors also illustrates a further development of the firm's current design language as seen on the Insignia, Astra and Meriva.
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