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Cadillac ConverJ unveiled at Detroit auto show 2009

By Tim Pollard Motor Shows 12 January 2009 14:29 GM came out fighting with new product in tune with the times at the Detroit auto show 2009. The Cadillac ConverJ is an electric-powered limousine not seen until press day, harnessing the same plug-in hybrid tech as the Chevy Volt. GM product overlord and everyone’s favourite sound-bite merchant Bob Lutz said the Volt’s drivetrain had been renamed the Voltec system and it was this lithium-ion battery set-up that underpinned the ConverJ concept car.

Watch the sad, final moments of a crusher-bound heap

Automotive wrecking yards are good places to reflect on the real-world values of heavily depreciated vehicles versus global current scrap-metal prices, and to see which cars have suddenly had the fix-it-versus-total-it line moved by insurance companies (the early-21st-century Subaru Legacy Outback, for example, appeared in large numbers in high-turnover wrecking yards just during the last year, as fairly minor collision damage on these cars is no longer worth fixing). You'll see the things that a car's last owner does in a desperate attempt to sell (or at least live with) an increasingly decrepit heap (as we learned in "Repo Man," you really will find a Little Tree in every car). During a recent trip to a San Jose, Calif., yard, I encountered this sad yet strangely compelling scene.

2014 Beijing Motor Show: weird and wonderful Chinese cars

The Chinese auto industry might not be the most important in the world yet, but it’s getting there. It’s already the top market for a large number of top-tier brands like Mercedes-Benz, and the industry has progressed to the point where companies including Nissan are setting up brands specifically to cater to the needs of Chinese buyers. But as far as Chinese brands go, things are very much a work in progress.