As the Chevrolet VOLT closes in on its release date this November, another less well-known version of the new plug-in hybrid also readies production across the pond. The Opel Ampera, sister car to the Chevy’s VOLT will be displayed at the Geneva Auto Show this coming March. In a sales tactic that’s been previously employed by some other manufactures, the Ampera will be driven from Rüsselsheim, Germany, to the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland. This little stunt will prove two things to the world automotive press. One, that is actually runs and two, that it’ll do everything that Opel claims.

Read more about it over at Autoevolution.com

Opel/Vauxhall is bringing the Flextreme GT/E concept car to Geneva this year. It’s like the Volt, only faster and better looking. The car can cruise at 125 miles per hour while achieving 175 miles per gallon. Like the Volt, it’s powered by electric motors and batteries, with an internal-combustion engine that drives a generator for extended-range. The Flextreme uses slide-out panels that deflect air around its rear to achieve a staggering .22 drag coefficient. I like the way it looks, but at the pace the auto industry moves, we won’t see a design like this hit the market for, say, 50 years.

Source: Gizmag

It’s been a long, hard road for Opel/Vauxhall of late, up for sale but being bounced around between two competing bidders like WWE contestants bouncing off of those bungee-cord ring ropes. That being said, the saga is (almost) over, as GM wants to sell to Magna provided that the German government kicks in some money, the unions involved agree to cut their own salaries, and a pig somewhere flies, however briefly. We should note that Magna, a Canadian multinational, is partnered with some unpronounceable Russian banking oligarchy for this transaction, so we expect a friendly iron curtain to soon descend over GM’s German operations just as soon as they can get all the details sorted out. Don’t hold yer breath.

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Opel Ampera

Unless you’ve been living in a cave on the Moon with your eyes shut and hands over your ears, you know that electric vehicles are the future. Not a week goes by where there isn’t some announcement about the car that will break the ties of petroleum oppression. For you, dear readers, I have assembled a list of some of the more notable entrants into the EV market with the pros and cons of each. From econoboxes to SUVs, grocery getters to exotics. Enjoy.

A Follow Up to the 9 Detroit Auto Brands We’d Miss the Least

On December 3rd of 2008, we published an article entitled “9 Detroit Auto Brands We’d Miss the Least” encouraging the Detroit automakers to slim down and get rid of some of their brands. The argument was, that just like Aron Ralston cutting off his own arm to survive, the major US car manufacturers needed to take drastic action and cut off some major portions of their business in order to keep the business alive as a whole.

Almost 7 months later, we’re back with a follow-up to see which of our original 9 brands survived and which ones went the way of Oldsmobile and Geo. Check it:

Renault Megane Trophy Concept

Is a stateside Renault built for Saturn a complete pipe-dream? Following up on a report from Bloomberg over future Saturn production, the new/future owners of the former GM brand are addressing rumors of possible replacement models coming from Renault or Nissan. At the same time Roger Penske has thankfully taken Smart cars out of the mix for Saturn dealers…sort of.

GM announced today that it fell short of the 90% bondholder participation in the proposed debt exchange needed to stay out of bankruptcy. Essentially, far fewer than 90% of bondholders felt like trading in $27 billion in debt for a small amount of stock was a wise investment. This leaves the General with few options other than a bankruptcy filing, which sources say should occur in the next few days as the company gets its ducks in a row.

SAAB 92

With Fiat’s Sergio Marchionne eying SAAB, and SAAB denying it, and others reporting China’s Geely being interested, it seemed appropriate to explore the history of this famous but slow-selling marque. SAAB, or Svenska Aeroplan AktieBolaget, is currently just another GM nameplate to shill their other cars through (mostly derived from Opel and Chevy platforms, at the moment). When formed in the late 1940s, however, SAAB was one of the most unique and innovative automakers in the world. Having been primarily an airplane manufacturer, they brought an outsider perspective to a landscape of conservative auto manufacturing with such wild features as front-wheel-drive and a two-stroke engine (which is small and makes a lot of power at the expense of emissions and noise). It was also much smaller than the aircraft-carrier-sized Buicks most Americans were used to.

Fiat Group SpA, the corporate parent of the Fiat, Ferrari, and Maserati brands (among others), released a statement on Sunday detailing that the group is in talks with GM’s European operations about purchasing the whole shebang. In addition, the Fiat Group may spin-off Fiat Automotive, combine them with the GM Europe units, and also with the newly acquired stake in Chrysler to create a new corporate entity, which at least one source reports would have a potential revenue stream topping $100 billion.

Possible Sale for Sky and Saturn?

Up to this point, there has been relatively little interest in any of the three of the brands GM says it definitely needs to sell or eliminate in order to survive.  Hummer has been for sale for almost a year and Saab is sure to follow.  However, this past week a private equity firm, Black Oak Partners, has come forward as potential new owner of GM’s Saturn, offering to keep the brand and its dealership network intact.