With hatchbacks playing a significant role in auto markets outside North America, the Chevrolet Cruze hatchback will bow at this year’s Geneva Auto Show, where Chevrolet will try and further its push into the European market with a well-targeted product like the 5-door Cruze.

While the Chevrolet Caprice is reserved for police vehicle fleets only, there have been some rumors about a civilian version making its way to showrooms for public consumption, and the latest videos showing footage of a police evaluation event only seem to further that.

Previous shots of the Caprice have either shown it in full police livery, or an “unmarked” version which ditched the lightbar and graphics but still retained the steel wheels and blacked out grilles. But the Caprices used in the latest video look like they could be sold to customers, if not for the small flashing lights hidden in the front fascia. Otherwise, the alloy wheels and interior devoid of any police equipment look pretty production ready. If it’s any consolation, we pressed one GM engineer at the Camaro Convertible launch about such a vehicle, and he answered with a wry smile, stating “these things have a way of happening”.

[Source: Youtube]

Video after the jump

To continue promoting the sport of drag racing, GM Performance Parts will be putting on the LSX Challenge Series restricting entry to GM production-based LS and GM Performance Parts LSX engines and engine components.

General Motors has long had a major presence in middle eastern markets, particularly in Gulf countries such as Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, where it has sold large numbers of its American sedans (particularly full sized ones) like the Chevy Impala and Caprice, but with slight equipment differences.

It’s no big secret that the current generation Chevy Camaro is fast becoming one of the most accessorized vehicles on the planet, but for 2011 things are about to get even better.

Following the lead of General Motors, Honda and Nissan, Volkswagen is looking into creating a sub-brand for the Chinese market, which would sell ultra-affordable compact cars in the world’s biggest auto market.

With 20.3 million vehicles recalled last year, 2010 was a record year for voluntary recalls, according to data released by the National Highway Traffic Saftey Association.

Daewoo, one of South Korea’s most famous nameplates, is being retired by parent company General Motors, in favor of Chevrolet. GM is hoping to make Chevrolet a global brand, and the move fits in with their overall strategy.

Less than a week after the Cadillac CTS-V Race Car took a bow at the Detroit Auto Show, it’s already had its first shakedown at Sebring International Raceway in Florida, and the all-black paint job looks even meaner than the Cadillac livery we saw in person.

General Motors’ T800 series of full-size pickup trucks and SUVs, with specific reference to 1999-03 models of Chevy Silverado, Avalance, Suburban and Tahoe, as well as their GMC counterparts, Sierra and Yukon, have been subjected to an investigation regarding rusted brake lines.

With only 352 days to go before the Chevrolet Camaro Z28 goes into production, you still have ample time to take up chewing tobacco and get acquainted with the music of Whitesnake.

If you’re running a little low on cell phone juice and need a boost, the Chevy Volt will soon have you covered. General Motors has just announced that they’ve paired up with Powermat (a wireless charging technology) to bring Volt owners a new way to charge their personal electronic devices without those pesky charging cords.

Ford‘s F-Series truck is America’s best selling vehicle for the 34th straight year, moving an astounding 528, 349 units, up nearly 28 percent from 2009. In second place was the Chevrolet Silverado, which moved a relatively paltry 370,135 trucks, but saw a 17 percent jump in sales.

Combined with several other big introductions, General Motors announced at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show that it is testing a new OnStar App that will let drivers text and even update Facebook using only voice commands.

As a part of a larger plan to grow OnStar, General Motors has announced it will begin offering the service on non GM products. Originally designed as a value-added safety feature, OnStar has grown to include numerous convenience features as well, including Turn-by-Turn Navigation and even the ability to open a vehicle when you’ve locked your keys in it.

Starting this spring, OnStar’s Blue Button-equipped rear view mirror will be offered through Best Buy for $299 plus installation. Plans range in price from $18.95 a month to $199 a year.

“For years, thousands of drivers have asked us to get OnStar in vehicles that didn’t feature it as standard,” said Chris Preuss, OnStar president, announcing the new feature at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. “With the retail product that we’ve introduced today they certainly can. This move in to the consumer electronics space represents the biggest development in our business model since introducing OnStar as standard across all GM products several years ago.  It represents a quantum leap forward in our plans to grow our business and provide a strong new revenue base for GM and OnStar from which we can further develop our core offerings in the factory-equipped market.”

Features available include turn-by-turn navigation though a live voice, stolen vehicle location, roadside assistance, Bluetooth hands-free calling, a link to emergency services though the red button and, of course, OnStar’s best-known feature, Automatic Crash Response, that automatically calls an OnStar advisor if a crash is detected and can even send emergency services if no on in the car responds.

The retail OnStar service is not only available for new cars from other automakers, but also older models. GM says that the OnStar mirror will work on 99 percent of the 20 best selling non-GM vehicles solve over the last 10 years and has plans to further expand the product’s range.

Official release after the jump:

After a dismal 2009 , American automakers look set to gain market share in 2010, despite fewer brands, a drastically reduced dealer network. The last time the Big 3 gained market share was in 1995.

General Motors has announced two separate recalls for a total of five vehicles totaling 100,000 units in all. The majority of recalled vehicles are 2005-07 Cadillac CTS models where the passenger airbag could fail to inflate in a crash due to a possible broken connection with the sensor in the passenger seat. In total 95,927 vehicles are affected.

General Motors is working on a plan to more than triple sales of electric cars in the near future says company CEO Dan Akerson. According to a report by Automotive News, Akerson wants to reach this goal by the middle of the decade. Arguably, tripling sales of GM’s current EVs (ie. the Chevy Volt) wouldn’t be all that hard, but Akerson is setting as a goal triple the output of what is forecasted for 2012 – a rather significant 45,000 units.

With General Motors recently announcing plans to increase production of the Volt, it now appears poised to bring that revolutionary technology to even more consumers through varied packages.

Although the good Lord chose to take the Pontiac G8 from us far too early in its life, other countries can still enjoy GM’s Zeta platform superstar in all it’s Holden Commodore-based goodness.

Just prior to the annual Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia over the weekend, Motor Trend‘s Editor-in-Chief Angus MacKenzie, presented General Motors CEO Dan Akerson with the coveted truck of the year award, in reference to the 2011 Chevy Silverado HD.

General Motors recently announced Chevrolet as the official vehicle of the Army-Navy game, which took place yesterday and saw the Navy win its 9th consecutive meeting with a score of 31 to 17.

General Motors will look to expand its lineup of extended range electric cars to three models by the time the current Chevrolet Volt’s production cycle has run its course. At least that is GM’s plan for the European market under the Opel/Vauxhall brands where GM has just launched the sister car to the Volt, the Opel Ampera.

Among the many ‘new’ GM’s plans has been a more focused sales and marketing effort on each of its four remaining core brands.

Back in 1984, General Motors and Toyota teamed up to open a joint manufacturing facility on the site of an old GM car plant in Freemont, California. New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) was conceived to help Toyota gain a manufacturing foothold in North America, while allowing GM to learn from Toyota’s manufacturing processes (in an effort to achieve greater levels of quality – this was the ’80s remember).