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Despite the looming bankruptcy and the other serious issues facing the company, General Motors' global product development chief, Tom Stephens told journalists on the sidelines of an event at the University of Michigan that the American automaker is on plan with the development of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid. "At this point in time, I know of no reason why we can't be in production by November of 2010," Stephens said.

Stephens, who replaced Bob Lutz as GM's vice chairman of global product development on April 1st, 2009, also told reporters that the automaker has not made a decision yet on which of the remaining three brands (Cadillac, Buick and GMC) after the axing of Pontiac and the sale of Saturn and Saab would get a vehicle based on the Volt's plug-in hybrid drivetrain.

"It's best utilized in urban vehicles," said Stephens. "We have to consider what is the usage of the person buying the vehicle. For a commuter who drives 40 miles a day and takes it shopping on weekend, it's the perfect application.".

That said, we reckon that that one of the most obvious and less inexpensive options in terms of development costs would be a Buick model based on the small sedan that the company is currently working on as it uses the same Delta platform as the Volt (as well as the new Astra and Chevy Cruze).

Carscoop's spy photographers recently captured a camouflaged prototype of the Astra/Cruze/Volt-based small sedan during testing in Germany, however it's not clear if the sedan is designed only for the Chinese market or if it will also head to the States.