GM not planning separate Volt brand

Toyota may be readying a Prius sub-brand for its most fuel efficient offerings, but General Motors says it has no plans to launch a green Volt division. The Chevrolet Volt is expected to become the first mass-market plug-in hybrid vehicle when it hits the market late next year.

Although General Motors plans to use the Volt's rang-extending plug-in hybrid technology in other vehicle offerings, the Detroit automaker will not create a Volt sub-brand. "The Volt was the original vehicle that we started, but I wouldn't see that as a brand marketing direction for us," Brent Dewar, chief of global operations for Chevrolet, told Reuters.

Toyot's Prius model has become virtually synonymous with "˜hybrid' in the United States market - prompting the Japanese automaker to develop a sub-Prius brand that should launch within the next few years - but GM won't follow Toyot's lead with its Volt technology. Instead, GM will use the green tech between its remaining brands, allowing for a more diverse product offering.

The Chevy Volt is expected to hit the U.S. market by the end of 2010, with a European rollout planned for 2011. An Opel version - the Ampera - will also hit the market in 2011, with the high likelihood of a Cadillac Volt-based model rolling into U.S. dealerships around the same time.