Chevrolet Volt Wants To Friend You on Facebook

The fan page, less than a month old, has 2,305 fans as of midweek. GM says the "mission" of the page is to allow people to "engage in intelligent discussion about the Volt, electric vehicles and the electrification of the automobile." From their comments, at least a few of the fans appear to be well-informed employees of GM or supplier firms or otherwise involved in the Volt's development.

So far, users are posting links to news stories about alt-energy development and making pointed comments such as, "Charging Port Revisited: I understand the reasons for moving it, but for the love of aesthetics, please don't leave it as a standard-issue round fuel-filler door. Can't you make it shaped like the Chevy Bowtie or something less conventional? This is a revolutionary car, after all. Think WWHED: What would Harley Earl Do?"

Other cars, of course, have beaten the Volt to Facebook — either with official company fan pages or those created by individuals. One of the Dodge Viper's fan pages has 28,206 members. The Ford Fusion + Hybrid page has 1,193 fans. Facebook's search bar lets you browse your marque of choice.

Pontiac G8 will live on as a Chevy Caprice

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Bob Lutz: Pontiac G8 will live on as a Chevy Caprice

Only hours into his latest tenure at General Motors, Bob Lutz was back at what he does best, namely, slipping product information to the media and giving enthusiasts a reason to believe in the beleaguered auto company.

Asked about the future of the Pontiac G8, slated to end production with the 2009 model year, Lutz told Automobile Magazine the car would find its way into Chevrolet showrooms under the Caprice name.

"The last time we looked at [the G8], we decided that we would continue to import it as a Chevrolet," Lutz said. "It is kind of too good to waste."

CEO Fritz Henderson has repeatedly denied that the G8 would survive as part of another brand, saying he's "not a fan of rebadging."

But Lutz, citing export agreements with Australia and the fact that the Holden Commodore is already sold in many countries as a Chevrolet, assured us GM would not let the car die.

Lutz also confirmed that the Cadillac CTS-V Coupe was still very much in the pipeline, and noted that members of the government taskforce took special interest in the super coupe.

"When we went through design and looked at the future product, the procession stopped at the model of the Cadillac CTS-V Coupe," Lutz told us. "I think that some of these guys are personally going to buy CTS-V Coupes."

Lutz also noted that a CTS-V Wagon is still a possibility, saying, "I think that'd be fun. I'm sure we'll build at least one."

Chevy Caprice is being looked at as "police application"

Ever since General Motors announced this spring that it was killing the Pontiac brand as part of its restructuring, fans of the Holden-developed G8 sedan have been clamoring to save it as a Chevrolet. After company officials repeatedly said over the past two months that no such thing would happen, Bob Lutz re-lit the fire last week in one of his first pronouncements after un-retiring. Lutz proclaimed that the G8 would indeed become a new Chevrolet Caprice.

During our first drive of the new Buick LaCrosse this week, we had the opportunity on one of the legs to ride with GM CEO Fritz Henderson, and we pressed him for more details on the Caprice plan. Unfortunately it turns out Henderson brought his portable fire extinguisher with him, telling us:

We've been looking at it for police applications. As for whether or not it's broader than police applications, I am not a believer in re-branding and re-badging. We've been talking about in terms of potential police applications and we'll leave it at that."

Henderson also threw a soaking wet blanket on the idea of adding production to Oshawa alongside the Camaro, saying that the cars will continue to be sourced from Australia. So, for the moment, it looks like Zeta sedan fans will probably have to be content with taking a Blues Brothers approach to the problem: Buying their next car as a decommissioned black-and-white.