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WARREN, Mich.--For all the attention on the electric Chevy Volt, General Motors has big expectations for another key car segment: small cars.

The auto giant opened up its design studios and testing grounds to the media on Tuesday to showcase its product pipeline of 25 new models over the coming two years. Having dramatically cut costs, its turnaround now rides on its ability to sell new cars.

Certainly, GM will continue to sell SUVs, trucks, and large sedans--highly profitable product categories that flourished when gasoline was cheaper than now. But GM's designers have sharpened their focus on smaller … Read more

For the last few weeks, we've been seeing a mysterious teaser ad all over the web. The ad simply displayed the number 230 (the "0" represented by a smiling electrical outlet) and a date. Well today's the day and the secret is revealed. The number 230 is significant because the Chevrolet Volt plug-in series hybrid has received an EPA estimated 230 city miles per gallon.

If that number sounds a little high to you, remember that for about the first 40 miles of driving on a full charge, the Volt uses no fuel. And once the … Read more

Capitalizing on the new Transformers film, GM has announced a Transformers Edition Camaro to coincide with this year's San Diego Comic-Con.

As an appearance package that can be added to the Camaro LT or SS model, the Transformers Edition kit adds black rally stripes, Transformers logo door sills, and Autobot badges on the front fenders, wheel center caps, and stitched into the leather of the center console. The kit doesn't interfere with the RS package accessories.

The idea is that owners can pretend to be Shia LaBeouf by riding around in Bumblebee from the Transformers movies while shouting, &… Read more

Shell this week opened its second hydrogen filling station in the greater New York City area, providing improved access to hydrogen for drivers of fuel cell Chevrolet Equinoxes participating in Project Driveway.

Project Driveway selects consumers who sign up on the Internet in the greater New York City, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. areas to participate for two months at a time in the demonstration. Shell will open a third station this summer in the Bronx in conjunction with the New York City Department of Sanitation.

Shell's hydrogen station in White Plains has been operating there for more … Read more

In 1996 GM bought the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit, and occupied four of its seven towers. But the GM employees in those towers didn't actually build cars, a task left to factory workers around the world. That is one problem addressed by the new General Motors Company that just emerged from bankruptcy. GM CEO Fritz Henderson announced that the company would eliminate 35 percent of its executive positions, flattening its management structure. Henderson said, GM will focus on "its customers, its cars, and its culture," in that order.

GM retains four brands, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, and … Read more

The Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in hybrid touted as a high-tech image-changer for General Motors, recently passed a milestone when Andrew Farah, the car's chief engineer, drove the first prototype of the production version. He said GM engineers are working to reduce road and wind noise and tweak the sound of the drivetrain.

Farah spoke with Staff Reporter Richard Truett about the Volt's progress toward its November 2010 production date.

What is it like when you step on the accelerator with the engine running? Since it is not connected to the wheels, it must be a strange sensation.

You get immediate response from the foot pedal -- I am reluctant to call it the throttle because it is not, in the traditional sense. But you get immediate response because the Volt is always driven electrically. You don't even notice the difference there. The gasoline engine's rpms then follow.

The engine, not being directly connected to the foot, is one of the things we continue to tune. We don't want it to be discomforting to people. There is an expectation of what happens when you put your accelerator to the floor in the way the car sounds and feels. We've got the feel. We've got the feel of a sports car. The sound part and the way the engine plays into that perception is one of the areas we have to work on. … Read more

Is the Volt ever going to get here? At this point, we've seen the Volt go from being a concept to a production concept to a test mule. The next stage of General Motors' series hybrid's life cycle is preproduction concept.

Check out the video below to see the Volt in motion, while Chief Engineer Andrew Farah goes into detail about turn signal sounds, doors closing, and the like.

General Motors announced today plans to build a small, fuel-efficient car at an idled UAW manufacturing plant in the United States.

The news tempers previously announced plans to import 17,300 small vehicles from China in 2011, which probably didn't go over well with the UAW.

Currently, about 67 percent of GM cars and trucks sold in the U.S. are built in the U.S. By producing another car domestically, GM anticipates that U.S. production levels will increase beyond 70 percent by 2013.

The proposed car was not announced, but an article from Automotive News speculated that the Chevrolet Spark is one of three small cars that General Motors could export from China to the U.S. The Chevrolet Lova and Aveo were also named as import possibilities.

The U.S. automaker already has the Chevrolet Cruze and Volt slated for production next year to help it comply with increased efficiency requirements of a fleetwide fuel economy of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016. … Read more

The most recent battle over electric car technology isn't being fought in the showrooms, but on the set of the "Late Show with David Letterman."

GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz was invited on the "Late Show," giving him the opportunity to respond to Letterman's negative comments about the Chevrolet Volt, which is an extended range hybrid.

Not really understanding the concept of a plug-in hybrid, Letterman had previously called the 40-mile all-electric capacity "insane" on a previous episode during which Tesla CEO Elon Musk was a guest promoting the electric Model S sedan prototype.

Lutz offered his rebuttal on Wednesday, Chevy Volt in tow, and tried to explain why GM doesn't sell an all-electric vehicle and is instead is coming to market first with a plug-in. … Read more