At the 2012 North American International Auto Show, Chevrolet unveiled two concept cars that were developed with input from next-generation auto buyers. More than 9,000 people under the age of 30 years old were surveyed. Their thoughts and desires were incorporated in the Code 130R and the Tru 140S concepts. Check out the video to get more views of what the cars look like and to find out what Chevrolet is aiming to achieve with these vehicles.

For a more in-depth look at the Tru 140S concept and its designer, check out our previous story.

The CODE 130R concept represents "functional muscle" and is designed as RWD coupe

The TRU 140S concept represents an "affordable exotic" and is designed as a FWD coupe.

GM North America President Mark Reuss (l to r), Chevrolet Senior Manager Global Marketing Strategy John McFarland and Lead Designer Nick David with the Chevrolet Tru 140S concept.

Nicholas studied engineering in his home country of Wales, and then went on to receive a Masters in vehicle design at the Royal College of Art in London, before joining GM’s advanced design studio in the United Kingdom. He later moved to Jaguar and Land Rover. When he got an offer to move to California to design for Honda and then Acura, the lure of sunshine and a new challenge got him to move halfway around the world. He said he learned to be a better designer during his stops with the other brands, but GM still held a special place for him. “(GM) was my first job out of college and you hold something inside from that. I had a great time and (I like) working on several brands at once.”

Nicholas David prior to the reveal of the Chevrolet Tru 140S concept car

When GM approached him a year ago to join its design team at its North Hollywood studio, he jumped at the opportunity. What compelled him to return to GM? “I think it’s a very good thing as a designer to work on more than one brand. You get kind of stale working on the same brand over and over.  So it’s good, we get a chance to work on Buick, work on Cadillac, also Chevrolet. It was a very exciting opportunity, especially in Los Angeles.”

Nicholas designed the Tru 140S concept vehicle that debuted at this year’s NAIAS. It is targeted at next-generation buyers, based upon feedback received from extensive surveys of young consumers. Nicholas sees what was presented at the show as only a starting point. “This is the first stage. These are kind of research vehicles.”

Nicholas designed the Tru 140S as an exterior design only, because, “The first port of call is always the exterior. That gets you excited. That gets your emotions going.” The research showed next-gen buyers are concerned about the technology and connectivity available inside the car. Next-gen buyers were clear: Technology matters. To ensure Tru 140S best represented the most cutting edge technology available, the designers decided to keep the interiors as digital renderings to be shown as thought starters.  Nicholas noted the research helped shape exterior and interior design. “We were surprised by the amount of technology these people wanted inside the car. They wanted a lot of connectivity without impacting safety.”

Nicholas is one of the team of GM designers working on developing cars that appeal to young people demanding style, technology and safety. It’s a challenge Nicholas is eager to confront and conquer. Keep watching to see what’s next.

Our team here at the Faces of GM is about to take a break over the Christmas/New Year’s period, but before we go, we’d like to thank you for making 2011 a great year for us. We’ve produced more than 80 stories, introducing you to employees, dealers, customers and friends of GM, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac. Sometimes we talked about great cars or trucks, and other times we showed you great people contributing to great communities.

Looking back over the year, we selected a few of our favorite stories that we thought you might like to look at again, or check out for the first time. Each of them highlights an aspect of how GM touches so many lives across the country and around the world.  Feel free to post your own comments on the blog.

- After a killer tornado tore through Joplin, Missouri, we brought you the story of how the Crossroads Chevrolet-Cadillac dealership helped the community and its employees deal with the devastation.

- We also introduced you to Seattle, Wash. dealer Brad Brotherton who uses social media to touch his local community and has found his business growing as a result of what he’s doing online.

- Homeless advocate Mark Horvath was given a GMC Terrain for a year to help him deliver his message about homelessness in the U.S. and Canada. People in two countries became aware of an often-hidden issue as a result of his work.

- Chevrolet previewed the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu (which should be at your dealerships in early 2012) and we met aerodynamics engineer Suzy Cody, a mother of two who drives a Camaro and skates on a roller derby team. We enjoyed bringing you the story about her passion for her job and her family.

- And in recognition of the 10^th anniversary of one of the greatest tragedies of the last generation, airbrush artist Mickey Harris created a special tribute to the heroes of 9/11, by telling the stories of that event through images painted on a Chevrolet Silverado. The response from the people on the streets of New York City near Ground Zero showed us how that vehicle touched the hearts of so many.

Thanks again for stopping by our blog and making 2011 a record-setting year in terms of stories and page views. We look forward to 2012, and bringing you more about the people and products that make GM an integral part of so many homes, families and communities. Happy New Year! See you in January.

He was a racer and he was talented. He ran against – and beat – some of the top names. When Philadelphia Chevrolet dealer George McKean met Penske in August of 1963, he saw a person who would go far. Based on that, he offered him a job as dealership general manager. Penske said, “That was in August of 1963. I was out of college, out of Lehigh, and working for Alcoa. I was working for $425 a month, and George offered me $2,000, so it was easy for me to say I’m going to go into the car business.”

Along with being a dealer, Penske still had the desire to be a racer. The two careers paths did cross a couple of years later when he had a chance to become owner of the McKean dealership. Roger explained, “I had to go Detroit, and Bunky Knudsen at that point was general manager of Chevrolet. He said, ’Roger, we’re not going to have race drivers as dealers, so you have to make a decision. Are you going to be a race driver or a businessman?’ That’s probably the best advice I’ve ever had, because I decided no more racing – let’s become a dealer. That’s when I really started my career with Chevrolet, and I never turned back.”

He was no longer behind the wheel, but he was on the verge of building perhaps the most successful automotive racing empire in history. In the 1960s, he created a TransAm race team with the legendary Mark Donohue as his driver. Then, in the 1980s, GM President Lloyd Reuss came to Penske with an idea to build a racing engine to try to win the Indianapolis 500. Penske said that effort created his favorite Chevy memory. “The best moment I had with Chevrolet was winning that first one, the first Indy 500 with the Chevy motor with Rick Mears in 1988.” The Penske-Chevy combination went on to win 15 races, including a total of four Indianapolis 500 titles, before Chevrolet left the IndyCar series.

Penske Racing IndyCar driver Will Power discusses the new Chevy Racing engine.

Now Penske and Chevrolet are attempting to duplicate that entire scenario. The new engine has been developed by Chevrolet, along with Penske and Ilmor Engineering. The testing is being done, and Penske Racing will be running with Chevy power once again in the 2012 IZOD IndyCar series.

Penske said his partnership with Chevrolet stretches beyond the race track, all the way to the dealership. He said, “The brand is on the rise. I can see it with the cars that are available for us to sell in the showrooms. It’s never been better.”

After more than 50 years together, does Penske have anything else to accomplish with Chevrolet? He said, “I can tell you my goal is to put that Chevy back in the winners circle.”

When he heard the Chevrolet Volt was coming to market in New York state, he knew he had to have one. He said, “I went to the dealer and I said ’How do I get myself a Chevy Volt?’ And he said, ‘We’re going to get two and one is already sold. So you have to put money down on it.” He put $1,000 down and had to wait six months, but when it came in, he realized his vision for a state-of-the-art electric vehicle had been achieved.

He ticked off some of the differences between his first electric vehicle and his Volt. “This car is a lot more efficient, first of all. It’s much more aerodynamic than an S10 pickup truck. The battery is lithium ion which is a lot lighter.” Plus, he said there’s no comparison between the maintenance he had to do on his truck and what the Volt requires.

He’ll never make the world forget Elizabeth Barrett Browning, but he did tell us, “I love this car.” And he ran down some of the things he loves in comparison to his truck. “This car is a lot more fuel efficient. This car drives so much faster, too. I like how quiet it is.” He also loves that his car will send him a text message if charging gets interrupted.

The instant torque of the electric motor has also been fun for Jon. He told us about having a Corvette pull next to him at a stoplight, and when the light changed, Jon took off from the line while the Corvette revved up. He admits, “the Corvette blew me away,” but he liked being ahead of the ‘Vette for (at least) a short distance.

Jon's Volt plugged into a public charging station in the Buffalo, NY area

Jon may also have given the electric car community a new catch phrase – “opportunity charging.” He said, “People ask well when do you plug it in? Anytime you’re parked and there’s an outlet nearby, you plug it in. It’s called opportunity charging. So you just charge when it’s available. If there was an outlet right here, I would have a plug in right now.” He said his employer lets him charge when he’s at work, so his 38 mile one-way drive from home to work becomes an all-electric round trip on most days. He also admits that he sometimes hangs around his friends’ houses a few extra minutes to get a little more charge before getting back on the road.

After more than six months of ownership, Jon sums up his feelings about his Volt this way: “I get in it and I still say I can’t believe I own this car.”

The racing teams from Team Penske, Panther Racing, KV Racing Technology and Andretti Autosport have all signed up to run the new engine, starting next year in the IZOD IndyCar Series.  Team Penske driver Ryan Briscoe praised the engine after running some tests late last month.  For the past two seasons, Will Power has finished second in the IndyCar championship standings, but he was the first to get behind the wheel of the new Chevy racer. Check out the video below to see him taking a few laps, and hear what he had to say about the new engine.

Andretti Autosport driver Ryan Hunter-Reay and team with the Chevrolet-powered 2012 IndyCar at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

But, let’s get back to what it means to you. This racing engine has a twin-turbocharged, direct-injected V-6 engine that runs on renewable E85 ethanol fuel. Jim Campbell, GM vice president of performance vehicles, said, “The rule set for Indy: small displacement engines, V6s, direct injection, turbocharging and the use of biofuels E85. Those are all the things we’re going to use in the production series to make our cars more fuel efficient, still have performance and lower greenhouse gas emissions.” What’s not to love?

Racing has long been a proving ground for automotive technology. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was built as a place where auto companies in the early 20^th century could test their vehicles. The learnings from the track continue today. Many of the developments in aerodynamics, brakes, ride control and safety were first developed for racing applications and later moved into production vehicles. Campbell said, “What we learn on the track does transfer to production. We have engineers who work on the racing side, and then they connect right with the production side.”

Keep your eyes on that new IndyCar engine. Some aspects of it will probably be in your car soon.

More than five dozen Volt owners showed up on the Thursday afternoon prior to the official Dream Cruise, and took their electric-powered cars for a spin on Woodward. They came from near and far, and they weren’t concerned about driving beyond the limits of the Volt’s electrical charge, because – unlike all other electric vehicles – the Volt has an onboard gasoline engine that powers a motor/generator to keep the car rolling until you reach your destination.

Jim and Michelle Corning talking about driving their Volt from Arizona to Michigan

Someone commented to Volt owner Michelle Corning from Flagstaff, Ariz. that it was kind of “crazy” to try to drive an electric car from Arizona to Michigan. Her response? “This has a range of 40 miles electric, but it has a pretty spiffy 1.4 liter engine. We get great gas mileage, and we still enjoy and have fun with it, so it wasn’t crazy at all.”

Michelle and her husband Jim are both engineers, and they had some business to take care of in Colorado on the way to the Volt homecoming. Michelle said, “We went to Colorado first and Jim actually drove that portion. And then from there, we came up through Indianapolis. So it was like driving any other vehicle that we drive across country. No difference.”

Michael Motto came from Catawissa, Penn. to attend the homecoming. Mike has ridden his Harley motorcycle in parades before, and experienced the camaraderie of people who have the same vehicle, but the Volt Homecoming offered the additional feature of being able to talk to the people who built it. Mike said, “I like the part of having the people that actually built the car, and were part of the car, here. I was standing by my car, and the guy from powertrain came by and said “Is this your car?” And I said yes, and we just started talking about it. That was really neat.”

NASCAR champions Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson joined the Volt owners for the event. They both own Chevrolet Volts and said they enjoy driving it. Gordon said, “When you step on the accelerator and it takes off and it puts you back in the seat, it’s a great feeling.”

From engineers to Harley riders to NASCAR champs, the Chevrolet Volt appeals to people on a lot of different levels, and based on a recent Consumer Reports survey, they would definitely buy the Volt again.

Nothing definite has been announced for the future, but it won’t be surprising to have the quiet performance of the electric motor rolling alongside the throaty rumble of the V8 engine at the Woodward Dream Cruise in the years ahead.

To help some mommies afford the trip, Chevrolet offered six vehicles for mommies to drive from their hometowns to the French Quarter. We heard lots of praise from the Traverse-driving teams. (One blogger concluded her review with: Overall, it’s a great little SUV/wagon-thing for families who have a lot of s*** to tote.)

GM engineer Suzy Cody on the Work-Life Balance panel.

A quick overview of the weekend sessions might be summed up as coping, cooking, connecting and cars. The breakfast session focused on work-life balance, and included GM aerodynamics engineer Suzy Cody. Suzy spoke about her job and her two boys, balancing a key role at work, doing the right things for her kids and also having time for herself being a roller derby mom.

The keynote speaker was author Mel Robbins, relationship coach, syndicated radio host and author of Stop Saying You’re Fine: Discover a More Powerful You. Mel did a great job taking real examples from her book, and applying and sharing them with the mommies.  She also provided validation that making it all work is tough, but mommies need to keep stretching to accomplish their goals – it’s good for the family, good for the relationship with the partner and good for the mommy.

Cooking was a key foundation piece of the weekend with one session Saturday afternoon and the other Sunday morning. Sunday’s session was spent at the New Orleans School of Cooking, where the mommies learned how to make Corn and Crab Bisque, Cheese Grits and Andouille Sausage, Pralines and Bananas Foster.

Chevy helped with presentations over the weekend by sponsoring Eve Mayer Orsburn, author of The Social Media Business Equation™. Eve talked about how to be a ‘LinkedIn’ Mom, as well as connecting with other mothers. Her session was well-attended, and the mommies had many questions for Eve on how to make their lives easier via LinkedIn.

The attendees also received a Chevrolet "All American Beauty" t-shirt

And GM’s General Director of Customer Care, Beth Grotz, held a Car Care For Moms seminar to help the women feel more confident in handling and serving their vehicles. Beth used a car care basket to show the mommies how to check their oil, check tire pressure, check in with OnStar to get service updates and much more.

You can experience some of the sessions by checking out the Manic Mommies podcasts.

And, of course, Chevrolet had cars and crossovers there to fit every mommy’s fantasy drive.  From the Camaro convertible to the three-row Traverse to the electric Volt, the moms kept the wheels rolling around New Orleans. Check out the video below to get a flavor for some of the activity and to see what some of the Escapees had to say about their experiences with some of Chevy’s hottest products.

Janet has had several careers, but she’s best known as an author. She wrote My Life in Two Americas; From Rage to Reason, and she co-authored Love in Black and White with her husband, the aforementioned William Cohen.

She knew Dr. King when he was leading the civil rights struggle in the 1960s,  and she considers him a mentor. She met him by accident – quite literally. She was working her way across a crowded room when she accidentally spilled her Coke. Recalling that incident, she said, “All of a sudden, police and security descended on me, and there was Dr. King wiping it off. I had spilled it on him. And I said, ‘Oh my God!’ And he said, ‘That’s alright, child.’” Thus began a relationship that allowed young Janet Floyd to see Dr. King in non-public situations and discover what he was really like.

While she was in Chicago, Janet stayed at the home of legendary gospel singer Mahalia Jackson,  and Dr. King would stop by and have dinner at Jackson’s home when he was in town. Janet remembers him as “wise and strong and funny.” Check out the video below to hear Janet’s story about trying to impress Dr. King with her bravado, but instead learning an important message about what it meant to march with him.

As we talked, Janet thanked Chevrolet for sponsoring the Table of Brotherhood events around the country,  and she praised General Motors for its $10 million in donations to help make the MLK Memorial a reality. She told us that her relatives worked in the auto industry, and she appreciates what the industry means to the country and to African American families. She said, “I had cousins who worked at the General Motors factory up in Detroit many years ago. On the ‘Great Migration,’ my people left the south and went through Indiana on their way to Detroit, to General Motors to get jobs.”

Walking through the finished MLK Memorial triggered many memories for Janet. She read quotes from Dr. King, some of which she heard him deliver. And she said as she arrived at the 30-foot statue of Dr. King carved in the stone, “I looked up at Martin and he looked in this monument almost as tall as he was in real life, because he was a giant.”