General Motors has announced it is to invest £80m in its Ellesmere Port plant to build the new Astra - despite the uncertainty over entry to the euro.

GM's chairman and chief executive Rick Wagoner says: "The euro is not a do or die issue for us as regards investment."

Launching Vauxhall's VX Lightning roadster yesterday, he said: "If the five economic tests are met we agree that moving into the single currency would take some uncertainty off the table."