The vehicle is supposed to be ready for the 2012 model year, and will make an appearance at next January’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit. We’re still crossing out fingers for an updated IROC.

Corvette Racing – Ep. 6

Corvette Racing – Ep 7

Holland is a small town that will be home to the new LG Chem-owned Compact Power battery plant, a key supplier of Volt equipment.

The extended-range Volt is capable of 40 all-electric miles, and can travel for 340 miles on a single tank of gas, according to Chevrolet. Real world tests have yet to be complete – but it will most likely do better than a Chevy Avalanche.

During the groundbreaking ceremony at Compact Power’s upcoming facility, President Obama said the location will be a key factor in creating growth in the American high-tech industry. The plant was given the go-ahead after receiving a $151 million U.S. stimulus grant, roughly half the cost of the total project.

Chevrolet Volt is coming to dealers in late 2010. If you’re in Chicago visit Phillips Chevrolet.

via | worldcarfans

Lordstown revolved around its GM Plant. And at one point, it was just about over. But when Chevrolet announced they would continue to produce their 2011 Chevy Cruze (and possibly their Chevy Volt hybrid/EV) in Ohio, workers clocked back in and went to work.

Here is a look at the workers, the car, and Lordstown Assembly Plant, as inspiring story unfolding for the American Working Class.

Part 1 – Painting the Cruze

Part 2 – Lordstown Assembly Line Preps for Cruze

Part 3 – Building the Cruze

Our favorite motoring magazine recently pulled this classic bit from its archives – where they put a 1975 Chevrolet Monza up against Ford’s Mustang.

If you don’t remember Chevy’s Monza that’s ok – it’s no Malibu. But Monza contained a powerful V8 engine, which competitor Ford also had in its current (at the time) Mustang. Both ranged around 300-cubic inch (not liters, inches) powerplant, though Ford’s was more powerful – in fact it was the strongest available at the time.

From a design angle, well the 70′s were not a fantastic for any auto maker. Mustang took its look partically from the less than popular Pinto. Chevy created a more unique front end for its 1974-75 Monza, giving it a closed grill and large (especially for the time) front logo. The rear ends of both vehicles sloped down, giving each a hunchback appearance. Were they bent over like sprinters, ready for that starting gun shot? More like two old men who wanted to take a nap. Inside, Chevy’s Monza lived up to the phrase bare necessities. You had your steering wheel, tach/speed/odometer and a radio. Oh…and a glove compartment. Bucket seats were barrowed for Monza from the same generation Chevy Camaro.

And you thought your dash was boring...

At the time, a best in fuel economy mention went to Monza, which much like today was all that really mattered. As America sped into another economic crisis, car buyers were less worried about style and muscle, and more about how much they’d pay at the pump, and how may stops they’d make. Chevrolet Monza, for the time, was a reliable, economic and affordable two-door car. But does it, and Ford’s Mustang from that period, signify in part the death of Muscle Car? Probably.

OH hai - I save u jobz

In 2008, Lordstown was supposed to be one of GM’s 24-hour moving plants, producing cars every hour of the day. By January 2009, two shifts were eliminated at Lordstwown, idling some 2,800 workers. “Last April, GM idled the whole plant for three weeks to cut supply and lower operating costs.”

According to AutoBlog – “The addition of a third shift should bring a number of union employees back to work building the all-important new Cruze…”

According to The Motor Authority: “Cost cutting at GM and fears that the German supplier of the Camaro Convertible’s roof mechanism was about to go under led to last week’s claims that the car was put on hold indefinitely. However, the supplier in question is still in business and has a new agreement signed with GM. ”

General Motors figures a $50 million development price for the Z28, and as Motor Authority added its “niche status” will probably keep this muscle car down. If the Chevy Z28 (aka, IROC baby!) does come to life, expect a 550hp 6.2L V8 engine from the Cadillac CTS-V to the Camaro’s engine bay.

As said at AskPatty: Danica Patrick, the Indy Racing League’s most talked about driver will be making her official NASCAR racing debut in just a few weeks driving the #7 Chevy as a driver for Dale Earnhardt Junior’s JR Motorsports Nationwide team (aka JRM) sponsored by GoDaddy. Danica is expecting to run 13 Nationwide races for JRM, in addition to a full-time schedule with Andretti Autosport in the Izod IndyCar Series.

“This event is an uncommon opportunity to see a world-class female athlete compete on the same national professional stage as her male counterparts with what we understand is a good chance to win,” says Gillian Zucker, President of Auto Club Speedway. “This is perhaps the only sport where such a thing is possible.”

News Dropped this morning on the old AP – and via Detroit News, who says it best: General Motors Co. will announce this morning it is calling off its search for a CEO and naming its chairman and interim CEO Edward Whitacre Jr. as its permanent CEO.

Sources familiar with the matter told The Detroit News that Whitacre will take the top job. Top GM officials said at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit earlier this month that Whitacre, a former CEO and chairman of AT&T, was likely to keep the top job permanently.

The Obama administration, which named Whitacre chairman of GM’s board last summer, strongly supports the move. The Treasury Department holds a 61 percent majority stake in GM after it swapped most of its $50 billion in government loans.

GM CEO Fritz Henderson unexpectedly resigned on Dec. 1, and Whitacre vowed to run the company on an interim basis as the company searched for a new CEO. Whitacre installed a new chief financial officer, Chris Liddell, who was CFO at Microsoft Corp.

Whitacre said last month he wasn’t planning to stay long-term as chief executive.

“I’m enjoying it, I’ll say that,” Whitacre said in mid-December. “It’s a terrific company, great future, great people. Do I want to do it long-term? I told the board no. But I haven’t defined that. I can’t define that myself.”

But Whitacre did take other steps that suggested he was staying for a while. He moved out of the Marriott Hotel at the Renaissance Center and into a downtown Detroit apartment.

Whitacre has named a number of other top advisers and executives in recent weeks, including new lobbyists. He also named GM board member Steve Girsky as a special adviser.

He also has shaken up long-held assumptions at GM, started holding regular Monday meetings with key executives and made boosting market share and growing the business a top priority. Whitacre had said he was shocked that only Henderson was responsible for profit and loss at GM. He has also made holding executives accountable for results a mandate.

Whitacre has also been candid that GM’s reputation took a hit in accepting a $50 billion government bailout. He has offered a more conciliatory tone toward GM’s closing auto dealers and vowed to repay GM’s outstanding $5.7 billion in government loans by the end of June.

Whitacre told GM executives soon after arriving that he was most comfortable as CEO.

“I don’t know how to be a chairman and not a CEO,” Whitacre said, according to the Associated Press. “I’m a guy that likes to be in charge.”

GM faced a number of hurdles in selecting a new CEO from the outside. One was paying enough to attract a top leader, since the company is under government pay limitations because it got a government bailout.

GM began notifying people of the decision last week, including the White House, but the government had no role in the CEO decision.

DETROIT – Chevrolet today announced the world debut of the Aveo RS show car at the 2010 North American International Auto Show. It features a European-inspired hot hatch look designed to appeal to young enthusiasts, and hints at the next-generation Aveo.

Longer, wider and more spacious than the current production Aveo, the Aveo RS showcases the car’s upscale-looking design cues both inside and out, and presents the many personalization options potentially available on the next-generation car.

“We hope the Aveo RS show car will demonstrate that we are as serious about redefining the Aveo and its place in the small-car segment as we were about reinventing the Malibu,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet general manager.

The Aveo RS show car, finished in electric Boracay Blue, wears global Chevrolet design cues such as the dual element grille, round taillamps and fender flares, but designers turned up the attitude on the show car with low openings and a lower mouth trimmed in a combination of brushed and polished aluminum. Outboard fog lamps are integrated into an exaggerated brake-cooling inlet that flows into the front fender flares, creating an aggressive-looking face.

Exposed headlamps, with their brushed aluminum structural surround, are inspired by the designers’ affection for motorcycles. The sleek side profile is characterized by uninterrupted body side lines, a high beltline and low roofline. The side mirrors with amber-colored turn signal indicators carry the same shape as the car and seemingly disappear into the profile. At first glance, the car actually looks like a three-door hatch because the rear door handles are discreetly located in the “C”-pillar area.

“The Aveo RS show car demonstrates how progressive design can inject personality into a small car,” said Michael Simcoe, executive director, North American Exterior Design. “We want customers to see it and have an emotional reaction to it.”

No performance-minded car earns its street cred without large wheels and tires. The Aveo RS show car’s wheels are 19-inch, five-spoke with a gun metal metallic finish Chevrolet logo. The wheel openings reveal large Boracay Blue brake calipers.

The rear of the show car continues the sport theme, with an integrated spoiler that flows from the roof, a center-mounted exhaust and chrome exhaust tips. The exposed motorcycle-inspired rear taillamps feature tinted aluminum housings and a discreet Bowtie logo.

The Source: Jalopnik