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Cadillac and General Motors have unveiled the VSR Cadillac V-Series Powered Sports Rod Concept, or VSR for short, at the 2009 SEMA Show in Las Vegas. What's the VSR concept, you ask? Well, according to GM:

"This concept features a contemporary hand-sculpted body and unique blend of Cadillac styling cues, with proportions and form that evoke images of earlier days of race cars/sports cars and 'Hot Rodding.' Race car engineering, state-of-the-art electronics and technology express the modern supercar era."

That means that GM had taken a lightweight and stripped-down aluminum hot rod chassis and slapped a … Read more

For a car that won't be available for more than a year, the Chevy Volt has got a huge following. Over 50,000 people have signed up for a waiting list run by a non-GM Web site. It's a compelling design idea: a car that moves from a peppy electric motor but has a gas tank to run a generator for longer trips.

But scratch the surface a bit and you'll find doubters. As competitor Toyota moves into plug-ins, it advocates sticking with the blended mode of today's hybrids, where the gas engine and battery move … Read more

Wow. I write a piece a couple days ago about the 2010 and upcoming 2011 Chevrolet Camaro, and next thing I know a representative from Chevrolet communications is posting a comment to my blog. Yeah, it was regarding a discrepancy in the information relayed in the video blog, but to me that's still pretty cool. As this gentleman pointed out, there are custom car builders out there who are co-opting the Chevy Camaro make and putting out non-GM versions of the Camaro for the consumer who wants one done their way. Apparently, Hennessey Performance Engineering does just that, and … Read more

About a week ago, I read an article online about how automotive industry insiders were recently given a sneak preview of the 2011 Chevrolet Camaro convertible, which is reportedly slated to begin production in the near future. With all the dire financial straits General Motors has found itself in the last few years, this is definitely good news--I'm sure that I'm not the only who would hate to see such a classic American muscle car tradition bite the dust.

In fact, there seemed to be a lot of rumbling amongst industry reports that the 2010 Camaro might have … Read more

DETROIT--General Motors needs to wring thousands of dollars in cost from its high-profile Chevy Volt electric car before it can compete long term on price, a company executive said on Tuesday.

The biggest challenge relating to the cost of electric vehicles and the Volt specifically is the battery and related components, such as the power electronics and the motors. Compared to other plug-ins, the Volt has a very large battery--sized at 16 kilowatt hours--to ensure that drivers can meet most daily driving needs in electric mode.

For the car to get "traction" in the market, the cost of … Read more

DETROIT--General Motors on Monday opened the doors to the OnStar EV Lab here, a testing center for in-car communications the company hopes will give its electric Chevy Volt more high-tech appeal.

The OnStar EV Lab, housed in GM's downtown Detroit corporate headquarters, is now using the OnStar communications system to gather data on 19 Chevy Volt vehicles for engineering purposes. The same technology will give consumers the ability to tap online services and perform tasks specific to a plug-in electric vehicle, company executives said.

When GM releases the Volt at the end of next year, consumers will be able … Read more

Suppose you wanted to pick up a convertible Chevrolet Camaro. You could wait patiently until the rumored 2012 release date. You could hope against hope that GM actually decides to release the darn thing. However, if you've got an extra 18 grand burning a hole in your pocket, you could see the folks at Drop Top Customs about making one for yourself, right now.

That $18,000 dollar price tag doesn't include the cost of the donor car, so expect to add between $22K and $33K, depending on how much topless muscle you're looking for.

Florida-based Drop … Read more

Ford is backing a federal ban on texting while driving--well, of course they are! Do you need a nanny to hang up the phone for you? GM thinks its cars and technology are good enough for a money back guarantee. And we roll in the Mercedes that looks more expensive than it is.

• Ford backs ban on driving while texting

• Mercedes S500 Plug-in Hybrid

• Frankfurt hottie: Audi R8 Spyder

• Mercedes E550 Coupe review and video

• New iPod Nano gets FM radio

DETROIT -- Eager to improve consumers' opinions after 39 days in federal bankruptcy protection, General Motors Co. will launch a national advertising campaign in mid-September for each of its brands.

"We want to dramatically improve consideration," said Mark LaNeve, GM vice president of U.S. sales. The ads feature product attributes. For example, Chevrolet will boast that the Equinox crossover gets 32 mpg on the highway, LaNeve said.

Over the next year, GM will increase its spending on advertising significantly, he said. LaNeve declined to give exact budgets but said certain vehicles will get more money.

The Chevrolet … Read more