GM Moving Forward with the Volt

MILFORD, Mich. — General Motors vice-chairman Bob Lutz late Friday tried to redirect the media toward a sunny update on the 2011 Chevrolet Volt and away from the relentless drumbeat of bad news about the automaker's dire financial straits.

Writing on the corporate GM FastLane blog, Lutz reported that GM has "moved on to the next phase of engineering development" for the Volt. He says the electric vehicle has made "great progress."

But the normally voluble Lutz refused to discuss GM's financial situation or offer his opinion on such touchy subjects as bankruptcy. "I am not going to comment here about any government loans or hearings or GM's financial situation — just like I wouldn't engage you in conversation about it if I ran into you in the produce aisle," Lutz said.

He did not address the elephant-in-the-living-room question of what happens to the Volt if GM runs out of money at the end of the year and no government help is forthcoming.

Instead, Lutz spent the bulk of the blog discussing his experience during a recent 30-mile test drive of the Volt here in late November.

"We've moved from the Volt test mules using previous-generation Malibu bodies [affectionately known as 'MaliVolts'] to test vehicles using vehicles from our next-generation global compact car architecture," he said.

"I feel terrific about the driving dynamics of that architecture," Lutz continued. "It instantly feels several price classes higher than what it actually is, due to the level of refinement."

The test Volt needs "very little in terms of additional tuning," reports Lutz. "I can say with impunity that the engine was quiet and not at all intrusive in terms of noise."

Inside Line says: Bob Lutz reassures the public that work continues on the Volt, despite GM's troubles. But don't ask him for any more details if you see him buying bananas.