General Motors plans to launch 5 small cars in 14 new variants by 2012

GM managing director Carl Slim said that even the cars sales are downgrading, they are not going to reduce the prices. As the fuel rates are increasing there is huge demand for diesel cars, so they are planning to give more importance to diesel cars. Planning to release electric version of beat, he added. All the cars planning to release will be in the similar prices of Spark and Beat.

GM said that, with financial aid from U.S. government, the once mighty General Motors, is planning to launch a new set of hybrids and all-electric cars in the next couple of years to inject life into the company’s dead accounts statements. The company is planning to set things rolling with the launch of a new plug-in SUV in 2011.

Other than the SUV, the company is also hinting towards the development of an all-electric small car for congested cities and a line of about 14 new fuel-saving hybrid cars by 2012. Currently GM is focusing on the Volt, which is slated to be released in late 2010. The Volt will have a 40-mile range on a single charge, which the company claims is more than the round trip commute of most urban travelers.

In 2008, General Motors also announced its plans for a plug-in version of its Saturn Vue sport-utility vehicle which would carry a lithium-ion battery pack rechargeable at a standard outlet – thus lessening the need for using gas from its 3.6-liter engine.

The Saturn Vue plug-in SUV was being designed with the capability to be driven 10 miles on electric power only. However, the company’s plans to launch the rechargeable Saturn Vue plug-in SUV were complicated by a decision in 2009 to abandon the Saturn brand.