Even though the all-new Camaro has yet to hit Chevy’s showroom floors, General Motors reported that it has received some 10,000 pre-orders for the retro-penned sports car. The announcement was made by GM’s head of North American marketing and sales, Mark LaNeve. The new Camaro will be offered with a base 3.8-liter V6 with 300HP and a 6.2-liter V8 unit developing 400HP when hooked up to an auto transmission and 422HP when matted to a 6-speed manual.

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Through some circumstantial evidence, “rumblings” and tea leave-reading, Autoweek has come to the conclusion that General Motors may unveil a new Cadillac model at the Detroit Auto Show powered by the Chevrolet Volt’s range-extending hybrid powertrain.

Rumors of a Caddy-badged Volt have been circulated since earlier this year, with Bob Lutz and other GM execs hinting at the possibility of new hybrid model joining the Cadillac line-up. Lutz told reports back in September that “there’s definitely room” for an eco-conscious Caddy and that “there’s going to have to be some kind of dramatic environmental statement” from GM’s luxury brand. So what form could it take?

Opel and Vauxhall versions of the Volt are already planned, but a Cadillac variant would likely be a small- to mid-size crossover. Just such a vehicle is slated to arrive in the second quarter of 2009 – the next generation SRX — inspired by the Provoq concept unveiled earlier this year. While the Volt is supposed to carry a price tag of around $40,000, the range-extended, plug-in hybrid CUV from Cadillac would be priced significantly higher, and that could help GM recoup some of the costs associated with the Volt’s advanced drivetrain development. We’ll know for sure in a few weeks time.

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a recall of 12,662 MY2009 Cadillac CTS vehicles due to a software problem within the passenger-airbag sensing system. The electronic glitch may lead to the disablement of the front passenger air bag when it should be enabled or vice-versa. GM’s dealers will reprogram 2009 CTS’ passenger sensing system module free of charge with the recall expected to begin on or about November 18, 2008.

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In a move that would have seemed implausable a decade ago, General Motors have cancelled a $2 billion investment program to update their range of full-size SUVs, the staple breadwinners of the 90s. Pulling the plug on Project CXX, which was set to underpin future versions of the Escalade, Yukon and Suburban, was unanimously approved by executives, ending 15 years of vehicles that defined the brand.

“It would have been very difficult in today’s environment to spend a couple of billion dollars to do a replacement,” said Robert A. Lutz, G.M.’s vice chairman and head of product development. In a market faced with soaring fuel prices and consumer demand for more compact, more efficient cars; “reality had set in.” Continued

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In response to rapidly declining full-size SUV sales and the ongoing economic crisis, GM announced on Monday that it will not wait until late 2010 to close its Janesville, Wisconsin assembly plant as it had originally announced. Instead, the troubled American automaker has decided to shut down the factory bythe end of the year. The Wisconsin plant employs around 1,200 workers and it assembles the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban and the GMC Yukon and Yukon XL large SUVs. Continued

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With GM facing well-publicized challenges — along with just about everyone else who needs a little thing called money — certain high-profile and expensive programs are crowding up on the back burner. Even America’s sports car, the Corvette, is not exempt, with CAFE regulations clouding the view inside the ‘Vette Nation’s crystal ball.

Motor Trend, commenting on the C7 Corvette’s delayed arrival, has said that the new coupe won’t appear until the 2014 model year at the earliest. The mid-engined route has also been scrapped, since it would simply cost too much to re-engineer the entire car for the purpose of easier integration of fuel saving tech like cylinder deactivation.

That means a six-cylinder is still being talked about — by GM outsiders only, at this point — as an option for the C7. If we take the Camaro as an example, that 2014 introduction date could mean late 2012, but that still only gives you four years to mentally prepare for a budget- and economy-minded V6 Corvette. Get cracking.

(source)

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As part of its Centennial celebrations, GM finally took the wraps off the production version of the long-awaited, all-electric Chevrolet Volt that will be available in the States in late 2010. As many might remember, GM’s media partner had released a few teaser images (by mistake) of the Volt in early September but now we have the Full Monty. Just hit the jump to check out the preliminary specifications as well as the initial details and a high-resolution image gallery that includes photos of the production interior. And stay tuned as we’ll be bringing your more information and media content throughout the day. See photos after the jump Continued

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