With the General Motors IPO going better than one might have expected a year ago, President Obama is not at all above taking a little credit. He’s also not above promoting the automaker’s cars abroad, as he did in Portugal recently with the Opel Ampera. Unlike when he drove the Chevrolet Volt all of ten feet back in July, he didn’t get to move the Ampera. He did say he was ready to take it for a spin, though, and called the car, “another example of GM technology that is going to have great appeal here in Europe,” according to a White House pool report.
The President was in Europe for NATO meetings and found time to highlight the Michigan-built Ampera, which is GM’s European version of the Volt. The Ampera also comes with a Europe-sized price tag, with an MSRP of €42,900 (around $58,718 U.S. at current exchange rates). That’s over $18,000 more than a Volt in the U.S., thanks in part to Europe’s Value Added Tax. The Ampera that Obama sat in might be worth a wee bit more, though, since the President signed the C-pillar before leaving.
[Source: The Detroit News, Reuters]
